Never Say Die
by potterfan36041
Summary: Fight. Fight, to stay alive. That was all that Tommy Oliver could think as he ran through the would towards the cliff, he only had one reason to do this and that was to get home to her. If she survived. AU
1. Chapter 1

Fight, fight to survive. I must survive. Pain, pain that overcomes all reason. I must have some reason left. Numbers, numbers that would make a lesser man run. I can't run anymore. If I run they will follow, they will follow me to the very depths of hell if necessary. I can't go back, the island is blowing up. And home, I can't bring this home, not to her. If she made it out.

"Tommy, what are you doing here?" Katherine asked as she opened the door and Billy stepped out from behind her.

"Keeping this away from my family," Tommy stated as the two of them looked at him and he then turned around. "What do you think happened to me?"

"No, not again," Katherine said as Tommy turned back to face them and they sighed. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, I couldn't go home tonight. I don't even know if Kimberly got out," Tommy said as Billy looked over at him. "She wasn't on the boat that got me."

"Kimberly might not be alive?" Katherine asked as Billy gently made her go inside and he then pulled Tommy over to the old stool on the porch.

"I don't know, it's been a week since I got out," Tommy said as Billy sat down in front of him. "Do you know something I don't?"

"No, but I will. I'm going to go send out the alarm and then we'll get you taken care of," Billy said as Tommy just shook his head.

"Fuck," Tommy whispered as he heard the door close and just took in a deep breath. He had been so worried about getting out of there that he had only remembered his wife when he had been picked up by a small fishing boat. Now, now he worried.


	2. Chapter 2

"What happened?" Jason asked as Billy sighed.

"Hold your horses, all of you. I still have to attempt to get Kim," Billy said as he dialed into her communicator and was shocked when she picked up.

"Billy! Tommy! Anyone!" Kim yelled as they all heard her.

"Hey, where are you?" Billy asked as Kim let out a sigh.

"I'm on the south beach of the island, I was blown off into the water, I've had to fight off about a hundred of those tryannadrones and I can't move away from this side of the island. It's smoldering, where's Tommy?" Kim said as Billy cringed. "You're not just now trying to find me because you found him dead are you?"

"No, I'm going to teleport you out," Billy said as he drained all the energy that the command center had left and teleported her out.

"Where is he?" Kim asked as she looked over at Billy and he just stared at her. "Where's my husband?"

"On the porch, you sure that you're okay?" Billy asked as Kim smiled over at him. "I take that as a yes. We're going to have to build a new teleportation grid, I just shot the Command Center one."

"Yeah, but I'm alive, I think Tommy will forgive you. I'll head outside I know I smell," Kim said as she gave him a hug. "When did he show up?"

"About thirty minutes ago," Billy said as she started up the stairs and he just shook his head. "Nevermind guys, they're fine."

"Glad to know," Zack said as each of them released their communicators and Billy headed upstairs.

"Hey," Kim said as she sat down next to him and he looked up at her.

"Thank God you made it," Tommy whispered as he wrapped his arms around her and she winced. "You're hurt but you made it."

"I thought you were dead," Kim whispered as he loosened his grip and she settled her hand on his back only to find blood there.

"So did I, how did you get out? Where were you?" Tommy asked as she looked away from him.

"I was on the roof when they started, I dove off and just ran towards the south, I've fought about a hundred of them over the last week," Kim said as he looked over at her. "You couldn't have done anything to stop it. I'm guessing that you took the cliffs."

"I did, I didn't even realize you weren't with me until..." Tommy trailed off as Kim sighed and then gently squeezed his shoulder.

"I know, it took me about two days to even get enough sleep to realize that you weren't there. I was so hyper aware of everything else that I couldn't even remember that you weren't there," Kim said as she hugged him and they both just held on. "How long do you think we have?"

"I don't know, maybe a year, maybe a week," Tommy said as he looked up at her and she sighed. "No more bad news tonight. We'll think about it in the morning."

"We will survive this Tommy, it is most definitely not the first time," Kim whispered as she gave him a quick kiss and he smiled.

"Let's go home," Tommy muttered as she grimaced.

"They can't teleport us, they burned the last energy to bring me back," Kim said as he sighed.

"Hopefully we have long enough to build it," Tommy muttered as she helped him walk inside and they both got cleaned up before they collapsed onto the couch.


	3. Chapter 3

Fastforward Four Years

Four years later and the Oliver family had gone from a family of three to a family of five, with all the children being under six. They had been holding their breaths since that day on the island, but nothing had happened. Of course, they should have known that they would never be safe.

"First day of school, for the both of you," Kim said as she held Sophia in her arms and the baby wriggled.

"You three stay out of trouble," Tommy said as he gave her a hug and he then kissed Sophia on the head before giving Luke a hug. "Do you need me to pick them up from daycare tonight?"

"Do you have classes at the dojo?" Kim asked as he shook his head no. "Would you mind?"

"No, come on Kylie, we have to get you to school," Tommy said as he took the girls hand and they headed out.

"Bye!" Kim yelled as he looked back and gave her a smile. "Now, what are the three of us going to do before I have to head in?"

"Build a fort," Luke supplied as Kim smiled down at him.

"So we are, come on, bath time for the both of you," Kim said as Luke groaned but he went up the stairs right in front of Kimberly.

* * *

"Good morning, Dr. Oliver," Principal Randall said as he walked up to him. "You're new here aren't you?"

"Yes, but I hear I'm not the only new one here," Tommy said as the principal nodded and he sighed. "Anything I should expect from you?"

"If I don't have a pile of complaints by the end of the week, you aren't doing your job right," Principal Randall said as Tommy sighed.\

"Ok," Tommy said as she quickly walked away and he let out a groan. He had been doing this to get away from the stress of the ranger business. No, he was not a ranger, but he was the best, the one that got called to all sorts of time periods, just to help. "Class, sit down! This is first period pick a science. Now, I'm sure all of you are just dying to begin, but it seems like I don't have enough books, so we will have question and answer time. I'm sure most of you don't have a clue who I am."

"You're Dr. Oliver," Cassidy said as she looked down at her schedule.

"Yes, I am Dr. Oliver, but that is only a name," Tommy said as the students nodded. "If you don't want to do this I am sure that I can do the knowledge quiz I was planning for tomorrow right now. Yes, Mr ?"

"James, Ethan James. You have a doctorate, why are you teaching us?" Ethan asked as Tommy smiled.

"I was given two choices in May, I either take some time off so that Kim could take on a full schedule or I take a job that will let me stay closer to home and the dojo. As you can see I choose this job, it sure beats being in a hot desert thousands of miles away from my home any day," Tommy said as the kids just looked up at him.

"Who's Kim?" Kira asked as Tommy smiled.

"She's my wife, she's a research scientist at the hospital and she specializes in genetics. She wanted me to be home more, I can't really blame her," Tommy said as the kids just looked at him.

"So you, the person that got to travel to all these cool places has to stay at home?" Conner asked as Tommy watched all the girls turn to face him.

"We did a lot of the traveling together, but the last time we went together, we almost left Kylie without parents," Tommy said as the classroom went silent. "We were both working with Anton Mercer before he disappeared, a few days later the place we were working was attacked. I went out one way and she went out the other, we didn't know that the other was alive for a week. It scared us into always having one stay home."

"Still, why can't you travel anymore?" Conner asked as Tommy smiled.

"She needs me there," Tommy stated as the kids all shook their heads.

"Is Kylie your only child?" Emily asked as they all watched Tommy's face soften dramatically. It had done that with his wife, but they hadn't known what it was then.

"No, she's the oldest and she's six. Luke is three and then we have Sophia who is two months old," Tommy said as the kids just stared. "We made a deal a long time ago that when we had our third kid or when the oldest was seven that we'd hang up the archeologist side or paleontology and research. She just pointed it out to me in May, about two weeks before Sophia was born."

"So, for the program this afternoon, you are a father of three who is happily married?" Cassidy asked as Tommy smiled.

"Very happily married," Tommy said as he sat down at his desk and one of his knick knacks fell off the desk.

"What is that?" Chris asked as Tommy reached down and picked up the box.

"My first black belt," Tommy said as he watched the boys eyes widen. "I'm a fifth degree now, I can test for my sixth in a year, but I'm probably going to put it off for a little while."

"And why do you have that with you?" Cassidy asked with very ill disguised disgust.

"It helps remind me that everything I do, will have a reward in the end," Tommy said as the kids smiled.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" Tommy asked as he saw the recognition come into their eyes.

"You wouldn't happen to be the owner of the dojo downtown, would you?" Chris asked as Tommy smiled.

"Thought you'd never ask. We opened it after Luke was born, if I wasn't on a dig I didn't have much to do unless Kim was doing something with dinosaur genetics. I still practiced karate, it was worth it to get to stay with them more," Tommy said as he looked at the clock. "I have some questions."

"Like what?" Kira asked as he sat on top of the desk again.

"Why does my grade book have a drawing of this taped to it?" Tommy asked as he held up the grade book and he watched half the class cringe, snicker or blush at the sight. "That's what I thought, don't let it happen again."


	4. Chapter 4

"Doctor Oliver, you have detention duty this week," Principal Randall said as she walked up behind him.

"What did I do?" Tommy asked as Principal Randall started to laugh. "I'm in charge of detention, great. I have to get my kids this afternoon and I was planning on taking them to a museum."

"I think the teens will enjoy that," Principal Randall said as Tommy let out a sigh.

* * *

"How did you get lucky enough to get saddled with detention?" Kira asked as Tommy looked over at them and just shook his head.

"I don't know, but you are going to get the privilege of spending the afternoon with me and my kids," Tommy said as they just stared. "Two of you can sit in the back of the Tahoe with Kylie and one of you can take the front seat. All three of them have to have their seats."

"That's fun," Conner said as he grimaced.

"I'm sure you'll survive," Tommy said as the teens piled into the car.

"I thought you'd have a mini van," Conner joked as Tommy gave him a harsh look.

"As much as my wife wanted that, I was able to convince her that this would be better," Tommy said as they all looked at him. "I bought it when she was visiting friends one weekend."

"And you're still alive?" Kira asked as they pulled up to the elementary school and Tommy unbuckled his seat belt.

"She loves me," Tommy said as he walked over to the playground and they saw a little girl with his hair sprint towards him.

"Daddy!" Kylie yelled as Tommy hoisted her up and she giggled.

"Hey bug. Hi Ms. Watters, do you need to verify anything?" Tommy asked as woman shook her head no. "Thanks, tell me about your day."

"We did a lot of coloring and went over our letters and did some 'rithmetic," Kylie said as Tommy smiled. "Daddy I made this for you."

"I like it," Tommy said as he looked at the picture and could not help but smile. "Mommy and I will put it up on the fridge."

"Hey!" Kylie yelled as she made her way back to her seat and Tommy crawled in to get her situated. Conner and Kira exchanged glances as they looked at the six year old that was sitting between them.

"Hi, Kylie," Kira said as the girl smiled and then proceeded to finish telling Tommy about her day.

"Why are they in the car?" Kylie finally asked as Tommy made his way to the daycare.

"They have detention," Tommy said as he watched her eyes go big.

"What did they do?" Kylie asked as Tommy stifled a laugh.

"Nothing too bad, bug. We're still going to the museum, don't worry," Tommy said as the girl grinned. "No unbuckling yourself, I have to run inside to get Sophia and Luke."

"Hello Dr. Oliver, your wife mentioned you'd be picking them up today," Erika said as Tommy stood at the front desk. "You can go ahead and grab Sophia from down the hall, I'll get Luke ready for you."

"Thanks," Tommy said as he headed down the hall and then gently rapped on the door to the one year and under room.

"Look who's here," Addison said as she picked Sophia up from her tummy time. "There's Daddy."

"When did she have her last bottle and diaper?" Tommy asked as he took the girl into his arms and gently rocked her.

"About an hour ago, she should be good for a little while. Kim didn't leave a car seat today," Addison said as Tommy nodded.

"We finally broke down and got one for my car as well," Tommy said as Addison nodded. "Thanks."

"Have a good day," Addison said as Tommy walked back out and saw that Luke already had his book bag and lunch box.

"Here's her bag, she's starting to get a little diaper rash so you might want to put some cream in there tonight," Erika said as Tommy nodded and then took the diaper bag before he transferred Sophia to one arm and then grabbed Luke's hand.

"Wow," Conner whispered as he saw Dr. O exit the building. By looking at him, you could never tell that he was a fifth degree black belt, not with how he was with his kids.

"He's a good father," Kira muttered as Conner looked back at her.

"Go sit in your seat," Tommy said as Luke scrambled up into the car and Tommy went to placing Sophia in her car seat. He then moved over to Luke's seat and got him fastened in as well. "Okay, I think we are set. Luke no throwing food."


	5. Chapter 5

They all got out of the vehicle and headed towards the entrance, only to find the gates chained and the lights off.

"If you find anything prehistoric, come tell me. We won't have detention for the rest of the week," Tommy said as he stood there with the kids.

"Isn't that the guy that you used to work with?" Conner asked as Tommy looked down at the plaque and sighed.

"That can't be possible," Tommy muttered as he looked around at the building and then looked over at the kids. "Kylie, you and Luke get back in the car."

"What are you going to do with Sophia?" Kira asked as Tommy sighed.

"Don't worry, I can take care of her," Tommy said as he walked over the chain and shifted Sophia into one arm. "I hope that you have a sixth sense little one, we might need it."

Tommy carefully walked closer to the building, knowing that this could be a set up. With Sophia in his arms he could not fight much of anything, but he did not have a choice, he had to take a good look at all of this. The both of them had called it suspicious when this company had started a few months ago and now he was just plain worried. Anton Mercer was dead, Kim and him were the only ones to escape.

"Crap," Tommy muttered as the dinosaur statue started to move. He stood very still for a moment before he held Sophia to his chest and ran. "Kylie open the door!"

"I don't know which button to push," Kylie said as she stared at the dinosaur.

"That one, open the door!" Tommy yelled as Kylie finally did and he dove into the car and looked down at the now sleeping baby. He put her in her baby seat and then fastened it as best he could before the dinosaur was looming over them. "Kylie, Luke, hang on."

He gunned it as he screamed out of the parking lot. His children were not a part of the deal, they were not something that could be sacrificed in a game like this, they were not something that could be taken for-granted.

"Daddy!" Kylie yelled as Tommy slammed the car into reverse and then forced the car to go the other way.

"Don't look Kylie, just put your head down and it will all go away," Tommy said as he continued to force the car to keep going. He then saw the teens run out towards the road and slammed on his brakes.

"What the hell is going on?" Kira asked as the three of them dove into the car and Tommy winced.

"Just hold on, I'll explain," Tommy said as he watched the teens eyes widen as he gunned it as the jaws came down upon them.

"I take it that you have some experience with this," Conner said as he laughed.

"Just a little, hang on," Tommy said as he spun the car and it took all Kira's will not to scream. "Grab a kid and get them inside the house."

They all did as they were told and followed behind Tommy as he opened the door and then closed it behind him.

"Daddy!" Kylie yelled as Kira looked back at the door to see Tommy simply shake his head and the dinosaur walked away.

"What did you say to it?" Kira asked as Tommy walked back in and took the wailing baby out of Conner's arms.

"Nothing," Tommy said as the girl slowly quieted down and he looked around at the other two. "Did you guys find anything?"

"Well..." Conner started as Kira elbowed him in the ribs.

"I might be a blind teacher, but I can see the looks on your faces. Spill," Tommy said as he ushered the kids into the living room where he put Sophia in the play pen and the nodded for Kylie and Luke to go get their toys.

"We found these," Conner said as he held out his hand and Tommy just stared at the red gem.

"That's not a good thing, is it?" Ethan asked as Tommy sighed.

"It depends on how you take it," Tommy said as they all looked at him. "Those are dino gems, meant for the next Power Rangers."


	6. Chapter 6

"I'm sorry, I think I might have lost my mind somewhere along the way, you just said Power Rangers, like the spandex loving, ass kicking Power Rangers?" Conner asked as Tommy stood up and then went to grab Sophia's bottle. He didn't really have time for this conversation right now.

"Keep talking, I have to warm up her bottle," Tommy said as he heard the cry that he knew meant she was hungry.

"You didn't answer us," Kira said as Tommy went over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle before warming it.

"I have a crying baby, I'm more worried about her right now. We'll get around to your questions eventually," Tommy stated as he walked back in and tested the bottle before he shook his head. "That's got to cool."

"So, spandex loving rangers?" Conner said as Tommy smiled. Why couldn't these rangers just accept it as easily as they had when they first found out that they were rangers?

"Yeah, those rangers," Tommy said as he walked over to pick her up and held her against his shoulder. "Mommy's going to be home soon, then you can get better stuff than this."

"So, if we picked up something for those kind of rangers, does that mean..." Ethan trailed off as Tommy smiled.

"You're a ranger now," Tommy supplied as he heard the front door open and looked up to see Kim holding a piece of the tahoe in her hand. "I can explain."

"You wrecked the car?" Kim asked as he just shook his head. "You didn't wreck the car? So why does it look like a large version of a tin can?"

"That might be the dinosaur that followed us," Tommy said as Kim's mouth opened and then shut a few times. He had long learned that it was best just to break the truth to her quickly, usually he didn't get yelled at for that. "We're fine."

"I'm sorry, how big was this dinosaur?" Kim asked as he sighed. He had hoped that she wouldn't ask for too many details. "Was it just a few stories tall or more like twenty? Because I think I need to know what the heck is coming after my family."

"Just a couple. Maybe four at the most," Tommy said as she groaned. "And someone would prefer milk over this mixable crap."

"You sure she's hungry?" Kim asked as she lifted Sophia up and put her finger in her mouth. "Wow, you finally learned her cries?"

"Kim..." Tommy started as she sighed.

"I'm joking Tommy, I'll go feed her. Why are they here?" Kim asked as she nodded towards the teens while she picked up a blanket and then headed towards the stairs. She was sure that the teens didn't want to watch her feed their child.

"They grabbed the gems," Tommy stated as Kim looked at them and just shook her head. Someone just had to be that stupid to grab the gems before there had been any problems. "Don't ask me how they got to them, I haven't quite gotten that far yet."

"I'll be back," Kim said as he just nodded and Kylie and Luke stood up to follow her. It was obvious that they didn't want to be there either.

"Dr. O, we didn't steal them, we just fell into this cave and when we walked down we found this dinosaur head that..." Conner said as Tommy held up his hand for him to stop and then walked into the kitchen and motioned to the light switch. "What do you want me to do?"

"Try that one," Tommy said as Conner looked at him. "It won't bite you."

Conner flicked the switch and the floor popped up and they all turned to face Dr. Oliver. Why did he have a light switch that did not operate a light but opened a door in the floor that lead to...

"Come on, you are going to need some things," Tommy said as he walked down the stairs and the kids just stared. "Welcome to the lab or as you'll know it, the Command Center."


	7. Chapter 7

"The lab? This is your lab?" Kira asked as Tommy smiled. "So you knew that we had to get the gems from here?"

"Yeah, but it was bound to happen," Tommy said as he heard the kids scramble down the stairs and Kim followed after them at a more mundane rate. "I'm guessing Mommy's putting you to bed."

"Yeah, we had to come say good night," Kylie said as he gave the both of them hugs and then gave Kim an unreadable look.

"Little one passed out and they're tired too, we just had a quick supper while they were down here staring at you in silence," Kim said as Tommy just nodded. "I'll be back down in about fifteen minutes."

"Okay," Tommy said as he settled down in his chair and they looked at him. "What questions do you have?"

"About what?" Kira asked as Tommy smiled.

"Being a ranger, you can give the gems back if you want but it would seem that they were drawn to you for a reason," Tommy said as the kids all looked at him.

"Have you done this before?" Conner asked as he laughed.

"Just once or twice," Tommy said as he heard the kids stomping around upstairs.

"Do you have a long speech that you've prepared after all these years?" Ethan asked as Tommy laughed.

"I didn't say that I'd done it a lot," Tommy said as Kim came down the stairs and held two baby speakers in her hands. "They went to sleep that quickly?"

"Kylie was worn out from all of it today, Luke, well we'll see if he'll stay in bed all night," Kim said as she settled down in his lap. "And you look like hell."

"Thanks," Tommy said as he gave her a quick kiss. "They want answers."

"We don't really have time tonight," Kim said as he gave her a short look.

"Is there something going on that I don't know about?" Tommy asked as she just shook her head. "So you just don't want to explain?"

"Not tonight, I know the kids need it but..." Kim stopped as he just nodded.

"I know, we'll take care of more of it tomorrow," Tommy said as she looked over at the kids.

"So you're kicking us out?" Ethan asked as Kim just shook her head.

"No, we'll answer your questions, but we can't really be up for much longer. I have a feeling that Sophie's going to wake up some tonight," Kim said as Tommy groaned. "She went to sleep too easy."

"Okay, so little Oliver is going to be a problem," Tommy said as he rested his head on her shoulder. "You know we're going to have to crack open that research we shut down."

"Yeah, but that's okay, so you guys have any questions?" Kim asked as Tommy looked out at them.

"No," Kira said as she stood up and smiled.

"Hold on, I do. So we have to do this? We don't have a choice?" Conner asked as Ethan stared around in awe at the place.

"You always have a choice," Kim said as his attention moved to her. "We could lie to you and tell you that you must do this, but that's not the truth. I walked away."

"So you did this too?" Kira asked.

"Once upon a time I did," Kim said as the kids nodded. "Now, I've got to get supper ready for us, you can stay if you want."

"No, we'll be heading out," Kira said as she nodded towards Ethan and Conner that it was time to go.

"So Mr. Oliver, how was your first day?" Kim asked as she turned to straddle him.

"Mrs. Oliver, I don't think we need to do this right now," Tommy said as she gave him a kiss on the neck and he sighed. "I need something to eat before we attempt this."

"Come on," Kim said as she pulled his hand and he followed her upstairs.

"Can I come home to this every night?" Tommy whispered as he held on tight to her and she laughed.

"You always come home to this, there are just times when we don't move past a kiss," Kim muttered as he placed her on top of the counter.

"I don't want to wait anymore," Tommy said as she laughed and he melded into her.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hayley!" Kim yelled as she walked into the cyberspace and was still in her lab coat and had Sophia in her car seat.

"Hey, how are you?" Hayley said as she gave her a hug and Kim put Sophia's car seat down and then got her out of the seat. "More importantly why are you here?"

"Tommy is coming to watch one of the kids, he asked me to meet him here," Kim said as Hayley just nodded. "Can you take her for a bit, I have to go get something from my car."

"Sure," Hayley said as Kim left the cyber cafe and Hayley looked down at the little girl. "Mommy will be back."

Kim walked over to her car and pulled off her lab coat and laid it in the back seat. She watched as Tommy pulled into the spot next to her and she smiled.

"Hey," Tommy said as he walked up to her and gave her a hug. "How in the world did you get here before me?"

"I took off a little bit early," Kim said as he took her hand and they walked back towards Hayley's as the sky darkened they both knew that they were in for it.

"Not good," Tommy muttered as he let go of her hand and the tryannadrones appeared around them. The two of them struggled, but it did little good against the overpowering army of tryannadrones.

"No, don't take me away from my babies!" Kim yelled as Tommy looked over at her.

"Are they safe?" Tommy yelled back as she barely nodded and they then were teleported out.

* * *

"I wonder what's taking your mama so long," Hayley whispered as she looked between the three kids and then back to Sophia.

"Hey Hayley, I didn't know that you had kids," Ethan said as Hayley just shook her head. "These aren't yours?"

"They're Tommy's," Hayley said as Ethan nodded. "And he's supposed to be here."

"Did Kim disappear as well?" Conner asked as Hayley shrugged.

"I wouldn't call it disappearing, it just might be taking her longer than I thought it would to get back," Hayley said as Conner nodded.

"Maybe something happened to Dr. O and she just left without any notice," Ethan said as Hayley nodded. That must be it, Tommy had to have been in an accident of some kind and it had slipped her mind to come tell them.

"Yeah, let's just enjoy Kira's band, we'll worry about them later," Conner said as Hayley nodded and then made sure to go get Kylie and Luke some milk.

"She's good," Kylie said as Conner sat down next to her and the little girl smiled up at him with a milk mustache.

"Yes she is," Conner said as he took a napkin and wiped her upper lip.

"Thank you," Kylie said, content and not knowing that something was wrong.


	9. Chapter 9

Tommy looked over at his wife and saw the determination in her eyes. Neither of them were going to give up any information, they'd rather die than see that happen.

"How are you doing?" Tommy asked as Mesogogg left the room and she gave him a weak smile.

"I'm fine, I'm just worried about the kids," Kim said as he nodded. "How are you?"

"I've been better, but we'll be fine," Tommy said as he offered her a smile and she just smiled back. "Just stay with me."

"Don't worry, I won't leave," Kim said as she rested against the metal bed and attempted to go to sleep. "Rest Tommy, we are going to need it in order to get out of here."

"You rest now, I'll rest later," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head and then fell asleep.

* * *

"We need to check on Dr. O," Kira said as they all gathered after school.

"I don't know about you, but there might not be a way to find them," Ethan said as Conner sighed.

"Not a good way to start things. Come on, let's get going, the only thing that might help is at their home," Conner said as Kira nodded and they all piled into his car.

"This is not good, Dr. Oliver wouldn't just miss school without calling," Kira said as Conner just shook his head.

"Don't worry about it," Conner said as Kira just shook her head. The three of them screeched to a halt in front of the Oliver's house and then tried the door, it was open.

"Don't worry about it?" Kira asked as he put his arm around her.

"He's a big boy, he can take care of himself," Conner said as Kira sighed.

"Guys, over here!" Ethan yelled as a picture of Dr. Oliver popped up on the screen.

"If you're not me, something must be seriously wrong. I put this together a couple of years ago when my wife pointed out that our rescue plan was that someone would notice that we were missing before the kids had starved. A beacon has been sent out to all rangers if you are viewing this. This is our history, our history as Power Rangers."

"Dr. O can't be a Power Ranger, he's too old," Conner muttered as Kira looked over at him.

"Be glad that he's not here to slap you in the back of the head for that," Kira said as they watched the video shift.

"These are the first five rangers, they were called up with Rita Repulsa attacked Angel Grove. Rita then decided that she needed an evil ranger to combat the good rangers, that was me. She sent me to defeat them and I nearly did, but they never gave up on me and they managed to bring me back. Then we found out something that none of us liked to here, the powers I had were temporary, I was not going to be the green ranger much longer. After I had no powers I left Angel Grove for awhile. "

"But he didn't stay gone for long, he came back as the White Ranger. We then had to find away to get new powers, some of the rangers were leaving and we found the sword of life. This allowed us to switch the powers from Trini, Jason and Zack to Aisha, Rocky, and Adam. Then we had the fight of our lives, where Zordon was nearly killed and we became the ninja rangers."

"Not all was well after getting the new powers, Rita stole the pink rangers power coin and in the process she was nearly killed. She left the team and went to Miami, to compete in the Pan Olympics. Katherine then took Kimberly's place. Then Lord Zedd and Rita got what they finally wanted, the blew up the Command Center and nearly took us out with them."

"Then they found the Zeo Crystals, which gave them their new powers and a new team member, Tanya. They graduated high school and were ready to move on with their lives, but not without one last challenge. A new evil took rangers and they needed new powers in order to save us."

"Why'd you stop it?" Kira asked as Ethan let out a sigh.

"I cannot believe that Dr. O was a ranger and he kicked ass. His wife is no pushover, but damn," Ethan stopped as the other just shook their heads.

"Hold on, he still has powers, can't he just ninja his way out?" Conner asked as they all heard a laugh.

"Tommy doesn't have powers anymore," Hayley explained as they looked over at her. "When Kim didn't come to pick up her own children I got worried, they're staying with some of the other ranger elite, we have this to take care of."

"You knew that Dr. O was a ranger?" Conner asked as Hayley nodded. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't know that you were rangers," Hayley said. "Now we might want to finish watching that, maybe it will help."


	10. Chapter 10

"We've been here for over a day," Kim whispered as she slipped a bobby pin out of her pocket and began to pick the locks. She had only done this once before, but she was sure that she could pull it off again.

"What are you doing?" Tommy asked as she released herself from the table and he just stared at her. "I didn't know..."

"Trick I've picked up over the years from being handcuffed to all sorts of things," Kim said as he just nodded. "Come on, I'll get you out."

"Dr. Oliver, I don't think that she will," Mesogogg said as Kim looked up from what she was doing and over at him. "You taught them how to be rangers, you shouldn't have done that."

"Then you should know what I'm about to do," Tommy said as he bent his arms and Kim quickly grabbed his hands and used them to help her vault onto the table and she quickly disabled the ray gun.

"Your little toy won't do any damage now," Kim said as Mesogogg tried to grab her and she somehow managed to kick out at him and promptly landed on a tender area of Tommy's body.

"Could you have shoved your elbow in there any harder?" Tommy asked as she continued to fight off Mesogogg and he groaned.

"Get yourself out of those straps then," Kim said while she fought off Mesogogg and was shocked when the sirens sounded. "The rangers."

"Didn't you hear? I ordered them to bring the rangers," Mesogogg said as Kim slammed into him and he fell to the ground.

"Gotta get you out of these," Kim said as she unlocked each of them and he then got up and looked over at her. "Grab the gem and lets get the hell out of here."

"Hi," Kira said as she saw the two adults standing up.

"Get moving!" Tommy yelled as all of them ran out the way they had come in and Kim and Tommy followed behind them.

"How did you get away?" Conner asked as the two of them dove through the invisaportal after them.

"The creativity of a woman that knows how to use bobby pins," Tommy said as the both of them stood up and he held up the gem. "I don't think so."

The gem melted away in his hands and an explosion occurred which took Tommy with it.

"Tommy!" Kim yelled as she was the first to her feet after the explosion, searching for him.

"Good-bye Dr. Oliver," Elsa said as Kim glared up at her before charging the woman.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up," Tommy said as he watched Elsa struggle to get away from Kimberly. "I actually know what to do with one of these."

"No, you can't be," Mesogogg said as Tommy morphed.

"I can't be what?" Tommy asked as the other rangers stared at him. "If you don't want to die I'd suggest you leave."

"You won't kill," Mesogogg said as Kim flipped Elsa and pinned her to the ground.

"Watch us," Kim said as she looked up at him. "And it's not killing, it's defeating monsters."

"Get out of the way," Tommy said as Kim released Elsa and sprinted away from the scene. She knew that he was probably going to open fire and that was not something that she needed to have happen.

"Tommy stop!" Kim yelled as he let go of the trigger on the ray gun and saw the fear in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked as the beings disappeared and she sighed.

"You can't do that, not when we don't know everything," Kim said as he nodded and then walked over to give her a hug.

"Why are you always so smart?" Tommy asked as Kim laughed.

"I'm not smart, I just don't leave my common sense behind when a battle begins," Kim said as she let go of him. "Hayley is going to kill us."

"She won't, don't worry about that," Tommy said as they looked over at the teens and they stood there in shock.

"You could have just killed him, why didn't you?" Conner asked as Kim laughed.

"That's your job, he's just back up, if things ever get out of hand," Kim said as they all stared.

"Aren't things always out of hand?" Kira asked as Tommy smiled.

"No, you'll learn how to control chaos in time," Tommy said as Kim grabbed his hand and gave him a gentle tug. "Yeah, you're right, we need to get out of here."

"So, you'll finally explain everything?" Ethan asked as Tommy sighed.

"Yeah, we will," Kim said as they all disappeared in a shimmer.


	11. Chapter 11

"Thank God that you're alive," Hayley said as she attacked Kim and Tommy.

"Hayley, need air," Tommy said as Hayley let go of them and just shook her head.

"Your children were nightmares last night. It seems that they don't like to be left at the Cyberspace for no reason and with no one to pick them up," Hayley said as Tommy cringed and Kim just patted him on the shoulder. Hayley had been his friend first and they had always been friendly, but only for Tommy's sake. There had been several times when they had fought and it was usually when Tommy was not around to keep them civil.

"Not my fault that we got captured," Tommy said as he looked back at his wife and she smiled. "Where are they?"

"Jason is looking after them," Hayley said as Tommy nodded and then pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I can get them if you want me to."

"It would probably be best to let Jason bring them here, he has a spare key to my tahoe and between him and Katherine they can get that car over here. Besides we have a lot of questions to answer," Tommy said as Hayley nodded.

"What was that?" Kira asked as Kim laughed. Tommy had sensed that Kim was more than ready to yell and scream at Hayley over her remarks.

"That is called keeping things civil between two people who are likely to kill each other if the situation arises," Kim said as Kira looked over at her. "Hayley and I are friends because of Tommy, they met when we were in college and she's a great friend to him, but we're...we're not the closest of people."

"I'd think that the two of you..." Conner started a Kim gave him a harsh look. "Obviously not."

"I've always hoped that they'd become better friends, but I think I have a better chance of convincing Mesogogg to surrender nowadays," Tommy said as Kim sighed, of course he had to get them back on topic before it went too far. The kids liked Hayley and he didn't want that to change.

"So are we going to get a true answer now?" Ethan asked as Tommy nodded. "We've seen the history, but that still doesn't explain a lot."

"It explains enough, enough that most of the other rangers don't even keep a tally for themselves," Kim said as they looked over at them. "We're the rangers that most of them depend on to make things right no matter what else is happening around here."

"So you are the guardians of the Earth?" Kira asked as Kim sighed.

"In a way, we rarely have powers anymore and it is usually accidental if we do now. We aren't meant to have powers like most of the rangers do," Tommy said as the kids gave him an odd look. We kinda are rangers that never truly let go of all our powers."

"But we are also the rangers that have lost the most," Kim said as she sighed. "We could have died after the last attack and that is scary enough to deal with."

"What last attack?" Kira asked as they both sighed.

"You should have watched the entire video so that we would not have to explain this," Tommy said as he looked over at his wife and she shrugged. At this point it would be easier just to tell it. "The last time we did anything remotely ranger-ish we were separated for about seven days because of an explosion."

"We were working on a project with Anton Mercer, experimenting with dinosaur DNA, that is how the tryannadrones came about, they were part of our research. The clinic was destroyed and we just went out in different directions, trying to find a way to escape and live," Kim said as Tommy forced a smile.

"I went out towards the cliffs and she went out towards the beach, we both lost count of how many of those things that we battled but it was close to the hundreds for the both of us. I was rescued by a boat and she was still there to fight of the monsters. Seven days later I was back on land and she was found. That is why our teleportation grid is shot to hell," Tommy said as Ethan held up his hand. "Yes?"

"What is a teleportation grid?" Ethan asked as Tommy looked over at Kim.

"It is kinda what it sounds like, it takes you from one place to another, usually with just a push of a button," Kim said as Ethan stared at her. "The bad thing is that we are still lacking a few pieces that would make it work."

"How hard can it be?" Conner asked as Kim and Tommy exchanged a look.

"Fairly hard since the person who built the first one hasn't been able to locate a frequency on which to operate it as well as a few chips that are no longer being produced," Kim said as Conner looked over at him.

"You're speaking French, you know that right?" Conner asked as Kim just shook her head.

"Don't worry about the specifics, all you need to really know is that it does not work right now. So we're going to have some other things to get you guys around, but you'll find out about those a little bit later," Kim said as the kids looked at her. "Now, I really want to get back to my kids."

"Kim, Jason and Kat will call us when they get here, you know that," Tommy said as he watched her start fidgeting and he sighed. "They deserve answers."

"And I want to see my kids," Kim said through clenched teeth and he looked over at her.

"Kim..." Tommy started as she just shook her head. "Okay, guys I'm sorry to cut this short but we probably should be waiting for the kids."

"But..." Conner began as Kira gently grabbed his hand and just shook her head no.

"We'll go," Kira said as Tommy gave them a weak smile and watched as they walked out.

"You could have at least listened to some more questions," Tommy said as he stood up and walked over to his wife. "What is wrong with you tonight?"

"I don't know," Kim whispered as he wrapped his arms around her and she sighed. She didn't know what to think anymore and things were just, they were really hard right now.


	12. Chapter 12

"Kim, Kimberly!" Tommy yelled as he ran up the stairs after her in an attempt to find out what was going on. She seemed to be furious at him and he didn't know why. "Kim!"

"What?" Kim yelled as she turned around to face him and it was then that he saw it. Her eyes flashed pink and he let out a moan. "What just happened?"

"Fuck," Tommy muttered as she looked at him. "Not again."

"What's going on?" Kim asked as he sighed and then wrapped his arms around her.

"They got to you," Tommy whispered as she looked up at him. "He turned you evil."

"No, he couldn't have. I was awake while you were sleeping," Kim said as he looked over at her and watched her eyes flash again and he tensed. "You son of a bitch!"

"Kim, come on, don't do this," Tommy said as she began to fight him. "Shh, it's okay, calm down, it's me."

"Tommy no, I can't do this again," Kim said as she started flashing pink and he held on tight.

"I'll break it, I'm not losing you," Tommy said as he heard the door bell ring. "Don't come in!"

"No, let them in," Kim said with an evil smirk as Tommy held her in place.

"What the hell is going on?" Jason said as he opened the door and saw that Tommy was doing his best to keep Kimberly contained.

"Get out of here," Tommy said as Kim finally broke loose and he faced her. "Jason go!"

"Why?" Jason asked as he risked glancing over at him.

"Because I'm the only one that has a chance at containing her, get out of here," Tommy said as Kim charged him and he threw her into a wall. "Go Jason!"

"No, bring in the kiddies Jason," Kim said as he looked over at her and then sprinted from the house.

"You will not touch them," Tommy said as he faced her and then shook his head. ''Don't make me hurt you."

"You'll never hurt me," Kim said as she laughed.

"To save them...absolutely," Tommy said as she smiled.

"Looks like Mr. Oliver is going to have to back that up," Kim said as she started towards him and he sighed. No matter which way he spun it, this was going to end badly. Every time that either of them had been evil they had had to deal with the repercussions for months.

"Don't make me hurt you," Tommy said again before he launched into his counter attack.

"You'd never hurt Kimberly," Kim said as he held her up against the wall.

"You are not my wife," Tommy said through gritted teeth. "Let her go or I will make you regret the day that you crawled inside of her and put your evil mitts on her."

"You can't kill me, otherwise you'll lose her and her little one, although I don't think that she knew about that just yet, but I can tell," Kim said as his eyes widened.

"Let go of my wife, now," Tommy said as she let out a maniacal laugh.

"I like this body far too much to do that, besides she is the perfect person to help me reek havoc with the rangers, too bad that you can't stop me," Kim said as he switched his grip and she attempted to push him away.

"Fight it Kimberly, please fight it," Tommy whispered in her ear as she punched him. "Not going to work."

"I don't love you," Kim spat in his face as he glared back at her.

"Kimberly does, get out of my wife's body or I will make you pay," Tommy said as her eyes flickered between pink and normal before she fell limply into his arms. "They don't usually take my threats very seriously."

"I know, but I think a mother's protective instinct might have helped," Kim said as she looked up at him. "I'm pregnant?"

"Unless whatever was in there was lying," Tommy said as he put his hand over her stomach. "But Sophia is only three months old."

"I know, but maybe this is how it should be or maybe the thing was lying to us," Kim said as Tommy laughed.

"If it was lying to me, then that was one hell of a lie," Tommy said as he gave her a hug and she looked at him. "I guess we need to go get a pregnancy test."

"Don't worry, I think there is one upstairs. Where are the kids?" Kim asked as Tommy walked over to the front door.

"It's safe now," Tommy said as Jason just looked at them. "Don't ask."

"Okay," Jason said as Kylie finally broke loose and ran towards them.

"Hey bug," Tommy whispered as he scooped her up and she laughed.

"You don't look so great," Katherine said as Kim sighed. "What's wrong?"

"I"m not sure if I need to talk about that just yet. It's not even necessarily something that would be wrong," Kim said as Kat nodded and then transferred Sophia over into Kim's arms.

"She's been pretty fussy all day, that might have just been because you and Tommy were gone," Kat said as Kim nodded and Luke then gently tugged on her hand.

"Where were you, Mommy?" Luke asked as Kim forced a smile. Their children were too young to deal with this.

"We had to go the hospital, just forgot to call," Tommy lied and he prayed that none of his children questioned him.

"Come on, Kylie, it's far past your bed time," Kim said as she herded the kids upstairs and Tommy collapsed into a chair in the kitchen.

"What happened in here? It usually takes weeks to break someone of being evil," Jason said as he sat down in the chair across from Tommy.

"Short version, whatever they had possessing her claimed that she was pregnant, somehow Kim was able to push them out when they said that," Tommy said as Jason's eyes widened. "And no, we don't know if that is true yet."

"Were the two of you..." Kat trailed off as Tommy shook his head no. "But neither of you mind this?"

"She'd be the one to ask about that," Tommy said as Kat looked up towards the stairs and saw Kim slowly walking down them.

"I'm not looking at the test," Kim said as she sat down in Tommy's lap and he let out a sigh. "And to answer your question, I'd be happy for more kids, I just don't know if right now is the best time."

"There is never going to be a best time anymore," Jason said as Kim sighed. "Not as long as there are people after you."

"They aren't after us," Tommy said as he felt eyes settle on him.

"If they aren't after you then why the hell where you captured?" Kat asked as Tommy sighed.

"It was to make a point," Tommy said as Kim turned to face him. "Maybe I'm just trying to be optimistic."

"You? Optimistic?" Kim asked as he sighed.

"I have to be optimistic enough for the both of us," Tommy said as Kim smiled and then gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Glad you are okay with that."

"You need to go check that," Kim said as Tommy groaned. "I told you I was not looking at the test."

"Fine, that means you have to get up," Tommy said as Kim forced herself to stand up and then looked over at Jason and Kat.

"Do you think that you are?" Kat asked as Kim sighed.

"Maybe," Kim said as Kat forced a smile and Kim gave a true smile. "I'd be happy for another one, but this will be my limit."

"Don't blame you," Kat said as Kim laughed and Tommy walked back down the stairs.

"The damn thing lied," Tommy said as Kim did a little dance and he gave her a harsh look. "So much for being okay either way."

"I would have been okay with either, but I'm afraid that I'll be the next one with powers," Kim said as he sighed. "We need to get some sleep."

"Yes, we do," Tommy said as Jason and Kat just nodded. "We'll see you sometime soon."

"No worries, your kids have missed you," Jason said as Tommy nodded. "And we're only a phone call away if the shit hits the fan."

"Good to know," Kim said with a smile as she started pulling Tommy up the stairs and they quietly let themselves out.

"You are crazy," Tommy said as she glared at him. "You know, I'm just going to go lie down before I get put on the couch."

"Smart man," Kim said as he climbed into bed and she went to take a shower. She knew that he was just tired and she knew that this was going to be a very long year.


	13. Chapter 13

"Dr. Oliver, why have you been absent?" Principal Randal asked as he walked into work the next day and he let out a sigh. It seemed like he was not going to be able to catch a break and that was something he desperately needed. His family was taking it hard enough as without this sort of stuff.

"I had some family issues," Tommy said as Principal Randal gave him a peculiar look before she allowed him to continue down the hall to his classroom.

"Family issues my foot," Randal said as she walked into her office and transformed into Elsa. "That man is insufferable."

"That's why he's such a good ranger," Mesogogg said as she shook her head.

"Never thought I'd hear you call a ranger good," Elsa said as Mesogogg shook his head.

"He's one of the best and we failed to convert his wife," Mesogogg said as Elsa gave him a bewildered look. They had implanted the evil correctly, she knew it. "It was not the method, it was the fight. I never suspected that she would want to throw it off that bad."

"So what are we doing now?" Elsa asked as he turned to face her.

"We have to make an evil ranger," Mesogogg supplied as Elsa just nodded. She had no idea how they were going to manage it, but it seemed like she had no choice but to accept it.

* * *

"Mrs. Oliver," the secretary said as Kim walked into the office and stopped at the desk. "You have a phone call from an Andros...well an Andros, he did not give his last name. I guess that he knows you very well then. "

"Did he say what he needed?" Kim said as she took the piece of paper and her secretary just shook her head. "Okay, thank you, I'll get to this as soon as I can."

"You have been sorely missed around here," Anita said as Kim walked into the lab and reached for her coat.

"What's happened?" Kim asked as Anita just shook her head.

"Just imagine the worst day that you've ever had and multiply that by about twelve. Everyone and their mother was in here yesterday and half of them were on their soap box about one thing or another. How do you deal with this?" Anita asked as Kim smiled. She knew that everyone thought that she had the patience of a saint, but it wasn't that, it was the fact that she loved the job.

"It's called three children and a husband, all of which have something that they depend directly on me for. The hospital bureaucracy is nothing compared to them," Kim said as Anita shook her head.

"You love your children and your family, but this is different," Anita said as Kim smiled.

"Not too different, here I have just about twenty children and one or two people that try to play my husband," Kim said as Anita finally laughed. "Don't worry about what they said, I'll take care of it."

"Why can't all the bosses be like you?" Anita asked as Kim shrugged.

"Most of your bosses have never faced death, it changes a person," Kim said as she walked into her office and closed the door. That was always a conversation ender and that is exactly what she wanted, she knew better than to keep Andros waiting. "Now I have to find out what Andros is up to."

"Hello," Andros said as he answered the phone and Kim sighed. "Hi, I guess you got the message."

"Yes, that still doesn't explain why you called," Kim said as Andros nodded on the other end of the phone. "Care to enlighten me as to why?"

"Well, it's kinda complicated," Andros started.

"If this is a girl problem I don't have time," Kim stated as Andros laughed.

"Cassie and I are doing fine, this is more of a ranger problem. You see..." Andros started as Kim let out a yell.

"No, I am not talking about ranger problems, that is Tommy's department. You can talk to him," Kim said as Andros stood there in shock.

"The two of you have never separated this before," Andros said as Kim glared at the phone.

"Three kids, we have to," Kim said as Andros just nodded. "Now, will you please call Tommy instead of me from now on?"

"I will, but you know you are going to have to deal with this some time," Andros said as Kim nodded.

"I know, but for right now I am just a mother and a wife, I want to keep it that way for as long as I can," Kim said as Andros sighed.

"Fine, I'll call Tommy," Andros said as he hung up the phone and let out a sigh. This was a problem better suited for Kim to handle, but he would listen to her this time. He knew better than to piss off the best female ranger of all time. There were so many things that she had messed up, but that was something they had to ignore, for the sake of everyone there.


	14. Chapter 14

Tommy looked down at his cell phone and hit the end button yet again. Why in the world was Andros calling him? He knew that the next call would mean him having to go outside and take it. You could only ignore Andros so many times before he showed up and that was something he did not need today. As the phone rang again, he sighed and then pressed the green button and walked out of his class room.

"What do you need?" Tommy asked as Andros laughed. This was the exact reaction that he had expected to get from Tommy. "Andros..."

"Sorry, you just don't sound much happier than your wife did," Andros said as Tommy growled. "Okay, I'll get to the point before you come and murder me."

"I would appreciate it," Tommy said as he nodded to a fellow teacher and mouthed the word 'wife'.

"I found out something about Mesogogg that I think you need to know. Do you remember Anton Mercer?" Andros asked as he felt Tommy nod. "He became Mesogogg."

"Excuse me? There is no way that that happened, he died," Tommy stated as Andros just shook his head. "I don't have telekinesis, so you have to tell me what you're thinking."

"He may have made some sort of deal or just done something stupid to become Mesogogg, so that he could survive what happened," Andros said as Tommy massaged his brow and just stared at the phone.

"We survived without doing anything like that," Tommy said as Andros chuckled.

"The two of you survived because you are the type of people that just do. He was not one of those people, he was a scientist to the truest degree. He was a man who studied things, not a man of action, we both know that," Andros said as Tommy just let out a sigh.

"So he did this for self preservation? I'd have rather died than become a monster," Tommy muttered as Andros laughed.

"Of course you would, you know what these things are from experience, he didn't," Andros said as Tommy settled with his back against the concrete wall and tried to keep from yelling. This was not the news that he wanted to get this early during the day. "Your wife refused to talk to me, now I see why."

"Andros, she doesn't want to have to deal with this and I don't blame her. Can you give me a call this afternoon?" Tommy asked as Andros just shook his head. "Listen, I'm at work and I could get into deep trouble for this, especially after not being a work the last couple of days."

"Why did you miss work?" Andros asked and Tommy closed the phone. He knew that Andros would not hold this against him, if anything he would be laughing about it.

"Dr. Oliver," Principal Randall said as he cringed. Please, just let her have only heard him saying good-bye. "What was all of that about?"

"Sorry, I had to take the call. This friend shows up if you ignore him too long and I'm sure you don't want that," Tommy said as he sent up a quick prayer that this would be a conversation that was over in only a few seconds.

"Maybe I should meet this friend," Randall said as she put her hand on his shoulder and he gently removed it. "What? All women are interested in you."

* * *

"I have a wife, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to class," Tommy said as he quickly walked away from her and back into the classroom. The last thing he needed was for the principal to start hanging over him. That would not go over well with anyone in his family. "Everyone! Noses back in books. Mr. McKnight, is you throw one more piece of paper..."

* * *

"Hello," Kim said as she walked into the dojo and looked over at the other instructors. "Where is my husband?"

"In back, with the kids," Allen said as Kim just nodded and walked back to Tommy's office.

"Mommy!" Kylie yelled as she sprinted over to her.

"Hey sweetie," Kim said as she picked her up and looked over at Tommy. "Did Andros get in touch with you?"

"He did, it was a rather odd chat, we'll talk about it later on tonight," Tommy said as he smiled up at her and then picked Sophia up. "She's really sleepy, Mama. The day care said she didn't sleep well during either of her naps today."

"Does she have a fever?" Kim asked as Tommy shook his head no. "Okay, I'll get her home and try to get her to bed after a bottle. These two have class, right?"

"Yes and I'll have them home by seven," Tommy said as Kim smiled and she then gave him a quick kiss. "You okay?'

"Yeah, I just have this bad feeling I can't shake," Kim said as he nodded and gave her a concerned look. "I'm not sure what it is Tommy."

"Don't worry about it, if anything happens call the dojo," Tommy said as she nodded and then let out a sigh. "I know you can protect yourself, don't try anything with Sophia there, I can't lose either of you."

"I'm not crazy," Kim said with a smile as she began rocking the whimpering baby. "I better get out of here before she starts wailing."

"If you start feeling any worse about this..."Tommy trailed off as she leaned in and gave him another kiss.

"I'll call, I learned my lesson about that a long time ago," Kim said as she looked into his eyes and gave him a smile and he nipped at her lips again before watching her leave and letting out a sigh. Her gut feelings were legendary and it made him wonder what was coming next.

AN: There was not supposed to be two breaks in this chapter, but for some reason my computer decided that there needed to be a break at the end of Tommy's conversation with Randall, so if it confuses anyone, I'm sorry, but I couldn't get it to go away.


	15. Chapter 15

"Sophie, sweetheart, shh," Kim murmured as she rocked in the rocking chair on the front porch at about midnight. The girl had not been able to sleep and that meant that neither of them were getting sleep either, luckily it was not a virus, but they were not sure what it might be. "Something is wrong Tommy."

"She doesn't feel like she has a fever," Tommy said as she nodded and then lifted the girl to her shoulder and attempted to burp her for what must have been the hundredth time. "She hasn't burped?"

"No," Kim stated as he took the baby and tried without any success. "We need to take her to the doctor tomorrow."

"Yes," Tommy said as Sophia let out a long burp and they watched as the little girl immediately settled down. "Thank God."

"How did you do that?" Kim asked as he smiled over at her and just shrugged. "I don't care how you did it, let's just get her in bed and go to sleep. I'm so tired."

"I know," Tommy said as he placed one arm around her, while cradling Sophia with the other. "Go on to bed, I'll be in there soon."

"Of course," Kim said as she went down the hall to their bedroom and he walked into the nursery.

"Sophia, we're going to have to teach Mommy that little trick so that the three of us can get more sleep," Tommy whispered as the baby gurgled and he placed her in her crib. "Sleep well, little one."

* * *

Tommy walked in to see Kim already passed out, her hair fanning out on the pillow behind her. He did not wish to wake her, but he knew that he should, the news from Andros could not be ignored and it was not going to go away if they just didn't look at it. They both knew that, even if she didn't want to admit it. The last several years had done so many things to them and he knew that she could not take much more, this would be it for them, even if that meant having to make someone else learn to do their job.

"Thank God it's the weekend," Tommy muttered as he turned over to find the other half of the bed empty and he groaned. He just wanted five minutes with his wife, just her. He loved his children, but he had woken up far too many mornings without her lately and it was starting to get to him. "Kimberly?"

"Shh, don't wake the kids," Kim said as she walked back into the bedroom and crawled back into bed next to him. "They're still sleeping."

"So, we might have five minutes together?" Tommy asked as she nodded and rolled over to face him. "I have to talk to you about what Andros said yesterday."

"I don't want to hear about it," Kim said as he cringed and she let out a sigh. The look on his face told her that she was not going to really have a choice about it. "I just can't deal with the ranger world right now, I've got too much going on with the kids and work and you and I just can't be pulled in another direction at the moment."

"You need to know this, I know how much it is bothering you that we are back in the game, but you have to hear me out on this one thing," Tommy said as Kim nuzzled her cheek against his neck and he stifled a moan. She was trying to do anything to keep him from talking about this and she was very close to doing just that. "Anton Mercer survived, he made a deal with the devil and became Mesogogg."

"Couldn't you have just let me have my way with you?" Kim asked as she looked up at his face and saw the emotions that were battling there. She had almost convinced him to not talk about it. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't joke around about this," Tommy said as she sighed and then rested her head on his chest.

"How can Andros be sure?" Kim asked as he shrugged. He hadn't thought to ask him about that, there was one thing that Andros was good at and this was it. He could not remember him ever being wrong about something that he investigated. "It could be some sort of misunderstanding, we saw Mercer killed."

"I don't know if we really did, a lot of this stuff should have been destroyed when the island exploded, none of it should have survived, but here it is," Tommy muttered as he gently ran his fingers through her hair, in an attempt to not only calm himself, but to calm her as well.

"They found a way for it to survive, somehow that explosion was meant to put us out of the picture. Who would want two of the best rangers of all time coming after them?" Kim asked as he nodded in agreement. "You have powers, we both know that it is only a matter of time before I get them as well and then they won't have a chance."

"They never wanted to face the two of us," Tommy said as she barely nodded. "Then why didn't they kill us while I was floating at sea and you were stuck on the island?"

"They must have thought that we were dead," Kim said as Tommy just shook his head. "It's the only explanation for them not sending something after us sooner. Even now, it seems like they are still skeptical that we are alive."

"How much longer is that going to last?" Tommy asked as she shrugged and he just held on tight. "I don't want anything to happen to the kids."

"You don't think they would..." Kim trailed off as she saw the look in his eyes. "These things generally leave children and family members out of it, why would this one be any different?"

"We're different, we only had Kylie when all of this began and now..." Tommy trailed off as she sighed and then rolled over on top of him. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, I am. We have to take advantage of the mornings when the kids sleep in," Kim said as she leaned down and gave him a kiss. "We'll worry about being rangers when we are both forced back into it, until then you're still my husband."

"I won't be your husband once that happens?" Tommy asked as he sat up and she smiled.

"You'll still be my husband, but it changes when we're both rangers, you know that," Kim whispered as she kissed him again. "I want to know that things are going to be alright."

"I'll show you," Tommy muttered before flipping her over and she stifled a laugh as his lips attacked hers. For a little while they could forget that they were rangers, they could forget their troubles and remember what it was that had gotten through everything until this point.

* * *

"The two of you look refreshed," Conner said as he led Kira and Ethan into the living room of the Olivers' hours later. Kim smiled over at the teens as Tommy did his best to not glare over at them, he did not want them to even be thinking about what activities might have left them in their current state.

"That's generally what the weekend does to people," Tommy said as Kylie ran over to Conner and he hoisted her up onto his shoulders, he had to admit the little girl had taken up a small place in his heart. "Let me guess, you guys are tired of getting your butts kicked."

"Yeah, can we get some practice to fix that?" Kira asked as Tommy just nodded before he stood up and headed for the stairs. As much as he preferred his jeans and button downs, they did nothing for him when he had to fight. "I was wondering, can Kim practice with us too?"

"Guys, I don't know if that's a good idea," Kim blurted out as Tommy looked over at her and he sighed. She needed to get used to this, but there was no way that she was going to let them talk her into this.

"I was just wondering, since I don't exactly have the raw power that these guys have and you...well you can hold your own," Kira said as Kim sighed. The girl had a point and she was sure that Tommy would appreciate it, but that still left the predicament of the kids being unattended.

"Where do you suggest we keep an eye on the kids from?" Kim called up the stairs as Tommy stood and then retraced his steps.

"We'll take the play pen outside for Sophia and Luke, Kylie should be able to play on the swing set without any trouble," Tommy said as Kim just nodded and she then jogged up the stairs to join him.

"Don't let them get into anything!" Kim called back as the teens settled down with the kids and just shook their heads. They could not believe that they had talked Kim and Tommy into this.

"What do you think the two of them are going to change into?" Conner said as he was slapped on the back of the head.

"Don't even think it," Kira muttered as Conner started to object, but found that it was more important to keep himself in one piece.

Kim and Tommy re-emerged from their bedroom a few minutes later and walked downstairs to see their three children wreaking havoc with the teens, who had obviously never baby sat during their entire lives. The both of them had to stifle laughter as they watched the kids run around the living room, but they could also see where it was headed and quickly scooped up the two older kids before they accidentally trampled on the baby.

"Sorry guys, we tried..." Conner trailed off as he looked up at the two of them. "Wow...that's a lot of..."

"The tattoos?" Tommy asked as Conner just nodded in shock and Kira struggled to pick her jaw up off the floor. There had been a silent pool at school as to what Dr. Oliver would like without his shirt on and this beat all thoughts that had been batted around. It was obvious to her that he preferred to spar in only karate pants, of course part of that could be blamed on the 90 degree weather, which was odd enough in September.

"Kira, you okay?" Kim asked as the yellow ranger looked up at her with wide eyes and noticed what looked like a phoenix tattoo on Kim's shoulder. What was it with rangers and tattoos? "It's okay...most teenage girls have that reaction the first time they have class with him during the summer. We're burning daylight, so lets get the play pen set up and start working out."

"You guys take this seriously, don't you?" Ethan asked as he walked behind the two of them and just shook his head.

"Of course we take being rangers seriously, if you haven't noticed we have precious cargo to worry about," Kim said as Tommy set up the play pen and she then placed Sophia in it, before Luke pitched a fit about being put in there with the baby before he finally conceded to it.

"Kylie, don't leave the swings, okay?" Tommy said as the girl just nodded her head and started swinging as Kim and Tommy walked over to the clearing where the rangers had gathered. They would be able to see their kids from there, but they also had the benefit of a little cover between them and the dirt road in front of their house. "You three, remember that the first rule of battling any monster is that they will not fight fair."

"So don't feel like you have to," Kim stated as they looked over at her. "We're going to cheat, we're going to use our years of experience to trip you up and that is what is supposed to happen, if it didn't happen, well something would be wrong."

"Or you'd be sixth degree black belts," Tommy said as the rangers stared at him. He could not possibly be serious about that, they were barely trained in the martial arts. "One thing you should probably take into consideration is that your powers will boost you, even in an un-morphed state."

"And the other thing you should consider is this," Kim said as she calmly stretched her back before looking over at Tommy as he walked over to the other side of the rangers. "You won't get a warning."

The rangers stood in shock as Kimberly went low and Tommy went high, Conner managed to jump over Kimberly's foot, but was caught in the ribs by Tommy's leg, Ethan and Kira were not so lucky, as they domino rolled into each other after Kim tripped Ethan up. Kim and Tommy just looked at each other as they stood up and looked at the pile of teenagers on the ground.

"No fair," Ethan muttered as he tried to stand up from the bottom of the pile, but he couldn't as the others were still laying on top of him. "Guys...if you could."

"We're trying Ethan, but we're kinda tangled up," Kira said as she tried to stand up, but wound up tripping, again.

"We'll let you three untangle yourselves before we attack again, since that's what real monsters would do," Tommy said as the rangers began trying to hurry, which only made them fall more. "Note to self, never let them stand this close in battle."

"What are you going to do, call in position reports?" Kim asked as Tommy shrugged as he tried not to laugh. "Come on guys, you have to learn how to work on a team at some point and the sooner the better."

"That would take a lot more than teamwork to dodge," Conner said as Kim and Tommy just shook their heads no. "How can you say no?"

"We've been through worse. This is really nothing," Tommy said as they stared at them. "If you want to attack us and see how we react, you can."

"It won't be a surprise," Kira said as Kim and Tommy looked at each other.

"We can act surprised very easily," Kim said as they gave them a confused look. "How about this, you spar with each other and then at some random time, attack us. You just have to figure out how to do that."

"So...we'll try," Conner said as Kim and Tommy stood next to each other and she looked up at him.

"You look tired," Tommy muttered as he put an arm around her and gave her a half hug. "Wrong thing to say, right?"

"As always," Kim said with a laugh as she saw a kick headed towards Tommy's head and forced him down before she reacted to the kick which caught Conner completely off guard, while Tommy gathered his senses the other two rangers moved in and he forced himself to his feet before stopping Ethan and Kira from attacking Kimberly. After five minutes the baby rangers were on the ground and Kim and Tommy were rubbing some spots that had been kicked, punched or slapped.

"Come on, I'll help you up," Tommy said as he extended his hand out to Conner and pulled the teen up. "You guys did better than I thought you would."

"Thanks for the confidence boost Dr. O," Ethan said as he pulled him to his feet.

"It's just part of the job," Tommy said as Kim fought not to laugh.

"No, you really did good," Kim said as she looked over at Kira and the girl just stared at her. How could she say that? "You have not been doing karate, gymnastics or some other form of martial arts your entire life, I started doing gymnastics when I was three."

"And I started doing karate when I was four, we have a combined 57 years of experience and you guys have a combined four weeks, it is expected for it to be this way," Tommy said as the rangers looked at him.

"By the time you are done being rangers, you will be at the level we're at, you don't have a choice and the learning curve, well it is not exactly a slow track," Kim said with a smile. "You guys need to spar some more and we'll do some one on one work with you. Don't worry, we'll get you there."


	16. Chapter 16

The kids ran around the yard as Kim and Tommy sat on the back porch and paid attention to them out of the corner of their eyes. The rangers were playing with Kylie and Luke as Sophia napped against Kimberly's chest, the training session had not gone too bad, but it had been tedious. There was something to be said about the first rangers at least knowing martial arts, but the pick of rangers now was different. They were picked for their hearts, not for their martial arts skills.

"I think we have found ourselves some good babysitters," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him as she closed her eyes and scooted in closer to him. "And you have found yourself a good pillow, haven't you?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm two Tommy, I'll kick your ass," Kim whispered as she drifted off to sleep and he smiled down at her. He had learned over the years that it was often best to let her have an attitude with him, otherwise she would lose it with other people.

"Sleep, you two, I have a feeling you're going to need the rest," Tommy whispered as he gave Kim a kiss on the forehead before turning to watch the kids again. He had watched the last few weeks take everything out of her and he knew that the rest of one weekend would not be nearly enough to cure all her problems.

"I'm not sleeping yet," Kim muttered as he gave her a smile and he then gently pulled on the ends of her hair. "But I will be soon if you knock that off."

"I'd like you to stay awake with me," Tommy whispered as she just shook her head and snuggled closer to him. "Okay, get some rest honey. I'll let the kids play for a little longer then send them in to the house to wash up before supper."

"What are we having?" Kim asked as he winced. "I'm taking a wild guess that you haven't thought that out yet, have you?"

"I've thought it out, but it would require you to get up and you don't seem to like that idea," Tommy said as she looked down at Sophia and then gently moved her to Tommy's chest.

"I'll go work on supper, you can get the kids washed up," Kim said as Tommy sighed. That was not something that he was looking forward to, it was something he was used to doing, just not when the kids had been playing outside all day.

"Aren't I so lucky?" Tommy muttered as she turned around and smacked him on the back of the head. "I can still be sarcastic."

"Yes, that is a gift that did not leave you when you became a father," Kim muttered into his ear before she gave him a quick kiss and then turned to move away from him. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."

"I'll come find you if they are too much to handle, go ahead and make enough for the rangers," Tommy said as she just nodded. "You know we are never going to live this down."

"I know, but at least our kids aren't going to remember all of the stuff that has happened around here," Kim said as she walked into their bedroom and then went on through the rest of the house.

"It's just me and you little one, hopefully your mama is nice enough to remember that we burned about a thousand calories today," Tommy whispered to the sleeping baby as she squirmed against his chest and he sighed. Why couldn't he just keep her this size forever?

* * *

"Are the two of you glad that they're finally asleep?" Conner asked as Kim and Tommy exchanged a glance.

"You will one day have children and when you do, you'll know the answer to that question," Tommy said as Kim rested against him. "Now, onto the real reason we held you this late- how are you guys feeling about your training? If it's not enough we can ramp it up or we can start doing two-a-days on the weekend."

"What do you mean by two-a-days?" Kira asked as she looked over at the others.

"We mean two training sessions in one day. One of which could be a hard training session like earlier and another be strategy and such or we could just do fighting sessions for both. One in the light and one in the dark or alternate each week. It is mainly what you guys want it to be. We have fought in every condition imaginable," Kim said as they looked over at her. "If you guys are content with what we did today, we'll keep doing that, but if you want more, we can give you more."

"I'd like more," Conner said as Kim and Tommy just nodded. "But what do you think is the most important thing to focus on? We're kinda shooting blind on a lot of this, two fights does not make us into expert rangers."

"Well, that depends on what situation you are in," Kim said as Conner looked over at her. "Sometimes strategy wins, hands down and there are other times when you need brute force. The key is to really know when to do which and that is something that can only be learned through experience."

"Can you lend us some?" Ethan asked as Kim just shook her head no and just smiled.

"I think night training would be good, we haven't had to deal with that before," Kira said as she looked over at the others. "And quite frankly that scares me the most."

"Alright, here is how we are going to do that, two on two. One of you will be in here with the baby monitor, the other two will be out there going against us. We will go through one scenario until either we beat you or you beat us, then we'll switch out one of the people. You guys okay with that?"

"I guess it could be worse," Kira muttered as they looked over at her. "Not quite sure how."

"We could have brought in all of the old rangers," Tommy stated as the others cringed. "Be glad that we're not the others, otherwise it would get ugly."

"They would really do that?" Conner asked as Kim smiled.

"In a heartbeat," Kim stated with a smile as she shrugged on a black hoodie and then tightened her sneakers as Tommy walked over and pulled on his own black sweatshirt before looking down at his ankles.

"Can you re-wrap them?" Tommy asked as she groaned. "I took off the tape because I thought we were done for the day, sorry."

"Yes, I'll wrap your ankles just give me a few minutes to go get the tape and the pre-wrap and the scissors," Kim said as she went up the stairs shaking her head the entire way.

"Why do you even need your ankles wrapped?" Conner asked as Tommy cringed.

"You see, I've messed up my ankles about forty times in my illustrious years of being a ranger and karate. I have learned to tape them if I have time before fighting someone," Tommy explained as Kim walked down the stairs and then promptly pushed Tommy back against the chair and lifted up his foot.

"If this is some kind of weird..."Conner trailed off as Kim looked up at him and she just laughed.

"Don't you dare even think that Conner McKnight, I swear I will rip off your..." Kim trailed off as Tommy started to laugh along with Ethan and Conner.

"Welcome to our future," Tommy muttered as she all but growled at him before jerk his foot back towards her and wrapping the pre-wrap around it.

"You move your foot again while I am wrapping this and I will wrap it so tight you won't be able to feel your toes," Kim muttered as he smiled down at her and just shook his head.

"Ethan, Conner go ahead and head out, stay on the back side of the property, don't go too far into the woods. We'll attack you blind," Tommy stated as the boys gulped and he just smiled. "Go on, it's not going to be that bad."

"Yes, we will just walk to our death willingly, don't worry we don't have families that care about us," Conner said as Kim narrowed her eyes at him before she tossed the spare roll of tape at him. "Going!"

"You know, I'm starting to like you more and more," Kira said as Kim smiled.

"Let's just say I've had practice dealing with guys like him my entire life," Kim said with a smile before she started pulling the tape against his ankles and he tensed, slightly as she made sure to wrap it tight enough that it would not loosen a great deal.

"Were you serious about me not being able to feel my toes?" Tommy asked as she smiled up at him and Kira walked into the kitchen. She was not sure that she wanted to see whatever this was. "We ran her off."

"This wouldn't be the first time," Kim whispered as she continued to wrap his foot and she just smiled at him. "You aren't looking so hot."

"It's called not getting nearly enough hours of sleep," Tommy said as she moved to his other foot and he laughed.

"Ticklish much?" Kim murmured as she looked up at him with a smile. "Never mind, it's always that foot, isn't it?"

"You are crazy," Tommy whispered as he just smiled down at her and tried to keep his mouth shut, if he said anything it would most likely get him in a great deal of trouble.

Conner and Ethan stood back to back in an open clearing, they were sure that they'd hear Dr. O and Kim if they came upon them here and they had a slight element of surprise themselves. They had remembered, as they tramped through the woods that Tommy and Kim would have to let their eyes adjust and they could attack them quickly before that happened, if at all possible.

They never saw it coming as Kim and Tommy leapt from the darkness, each of them catching their targets completely by surprise. The basic survival instinct then kicked in as Conner and Ethan struggled to get away from their attackers was nearly enough to overtake them. Kim found herself being flipped over Ethan's shoulder and the only thing that kept him from pinning her to the ground was that she managed to keep her senses. The boys were fighting on adrenaline, they were fighting on experience. The rangers were forced to the ground as Tommy just looked over at Kimberly and she straightened up.

"It's been years since we've had something like this happen," Kim said as she looked over at Tommy and he just smiled before he pulled Conner to his feet.

"You're doing pretty good red," Tommy muttered as Conner looked over at him. "You're doing very good."

"I never thought I'd hear that from you," Conner muttered as Tommy just shook his head. He knew that he had given the boy a hard time, but it was something that was necessary for him to do. Red rangers had to deal with tons of things at one time and the best way to deal with that was to have a semi-psycho mentor, it meant he would have plenty of practice mitigating someone that could go off his hinges with only a moment's notice.

"I'm not always a hard ass, Ethan head inside send Kira out to meet up with Conner here and we'll go hang out on the back porch while you two get lost," Tommy said as he just smiled at him. "Unless you want me to stay out here."

"No, I think it's best that you two go hang out on the porch, maybe we can find some sort of strategy this time," Conner said as Kim and Tommy led Ethan out of the woods.

"I don't get a 'good job'?" Ethan asked as Kim looked over at him and slapped him on the back of the head. "What was that for?"

"Being a smart ass. I'm not the one that gives out 'good jobs', he does. My job is to be the one that encourages when you come back from a battle completely defeated and exhausted and the bells and whistles go off again," Kim said as he looked over and her and she offered him a smile. "It's going to be a long night."

"I figured that," Tommy asked as she grabbed his hand and they continued walking back to the house, with a silent Ethan in tow.

"I think we have scared him," Kim stage whispered as Ethan just shook his head and Tommy turned to face him.

"PDA bothers you, doesn't it?" Tommy asked as Ethan just nodded and they looked at each other. "I would love to tell you that we won't do it."

"But we will, most people that are around us just get used to it..." Kim trailed off as Tommy looked back at the teen.

"Or they just get used to it," Tommy said as Ethan just nodded, "but we'll try to keep that in mind from now on."

"Do you think you are going to be rangers again?" Ethan asked as Kim sighed and looked over at Tommy. "Touchy subject, isn't it?"

"Yes, but to answer your question, there is a good chance that we could be rangers again," Tommy said as Kim forced herself to smile. "Not that we really want to be rangers again, but we've dealt with worse before."

"Send Kira out, we'll wait about ten minutes to go find them," Kim said as Ethan nodded and then sprinted into the house to send Kira out. "This is going to be rough."

"Yeah, but it will be worth it in the end," Tommy said as she just nodded and sunk down in the chair next to him. So much for being able to go to sleep early.


	17. Chapter 17

The morning came with a start as the light streamed through the windows and the two exhausted mentors came awake with a shudder as they heard their children screaming. The two of them bolted from their bed and were stopped in the hall by the tryannadrones. Kim headed towards Sophia's room and Tommy bolted for Luke and Kylie's room. They tossed the tryannadrones through dry wall and slammed them into the hallway closets as they sprinted for the rooms. They each reached their child's room in time to smell the flames coming up from the hall and they looked at the windows in front of them, gathering their children to their chests they dove out the windows and into the bushes.

"Kim!" Tommy yelled as he limped around the house and found her slowly walking towards him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Kim whispered as she looked at the two older children and then took another look at Sophia and saw that she was fine, except for some of Kim's blood on her brow. "But we need to go to the hospital."

"We need to call 911 and get the firefighters here, we'll get an ambulance too," Tommy said as Kylie and Luke threw both of their arms around her and she held them close as they walked away from the blaze.

"Our house," Kim whispered as Tommy put his arms around her and she settled against him. He had had piece of mind enough to grab his cell phone and he dialed 911 as quickly as possible as he continued to herd them away from the house.

"I'm going after those bastards," Tommy muttered as Kim grabbed his hand and shook her head no. "Kimberly, I have to do this."

"With only one set of powers? Leaving me to fend for the three of us if something comes? No, you are not going until we have someone here to watch them and when you go I'm going with you," Kim insisted as she looked up at her husband. "I can't let you go do this alone."

"And I can't risk you..."Tommy trailed off as he leaned in to give her a kiss. "I can't risk you."

"I know, that's why I will be there with you, because I can't lose you either," Kim whispered as she gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"But the kids..." Tommy said as she looked over at him and she then looked down at the kids.

"We will either do this together or it won't be done at all," Kim stated, firmly, as he barely nodded and looked back at the house. "We can rebuild the house."

"But we can't rebuild the pictures or the memories or the..." Tommy said as she placed her finger over his lips.

"You know that lock box I have at the bank?" Kim asked as he looked down at her with a confused stare. "I have copies of all of our pictures there. I figured that it couldn't hurt since we almost always lose things or break things or burn them, as in this case."

"You're crazy, but this is a good kind of crazy, the kind of crazy that I haven't seen from you in a long time," Tommy muttered as he heard the sirens coming in from a distance and he let out a groan. "Pretend to be hurt."

"I won't have to do much pretending there," Kim said as he looked over at her and he then felt the blood oozing onto his arm and he pulled it away. "I didn't have time to open the window, so I just went through backwards, that way Sophia wouldn't get any glass on her."

"How are you still standing?" Tommy asked as he turned her around to where he could look at her back and she groaned when he gently touched the glass.

"Childbirth ring a bell, mister? Or did you just forget about that little bit of hell?" Kim asked as he gave her a hug and she cringed before he let go of her quickly.

"We need to act extremely upset," Tommy said as she gave him a look that clearly said that he was off his rocker.

"I'm as upset as I can be right now, but it could be worse," Kim said as he nodded and watched as the EMT's walked over to him and saw the firefighters start rolling out the hose.

"Ma'am," one of the EMT's said as he walked over to her and she looked back at him.

"Yes it hurts and I need to get stitched up, but she's not letting go anytime soon and I don't need to lay down on my back, that will just make it worse," Kim explained as the EMT stared at her in shock. "And the only reason that I am standing is because of childbirth, this is mild, to say the least."

"Ma'am, you really should," the EMT started again as Tommy groaned.

"Listen, if she hasn't passed out yet, she'll be fine, how deep did the glass go?" Tommy asked as the EMT looked over at him.

"I can't say how deep it was embedded with any certainty, but my guess would be that most of the wounds are just superficial," the EMT stated as Tommy nodded.

"Kim, go ahead and get in the ambulance, I'll go grab the car and we'll follow you," Tommy stated as he watched the confusion fill the EMT's face.

"We didn't see any cars when we pulled up, did you have them in your garage?" the EMT asked as Tommy shook his head no, they had always meant to have a garage but they had never gotten around to it.

"We don't have a garage," Kim stated as the EMT grimaced. "You're telling me that someone stole our cars?"

"I can't say that with any certainty that would be the crime scene investigators job and they're not here yet," the EMT said as Kim groaned.

"Go, I'll watch after the two of them and give someone a call to come get us," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. "We'll be fine, but the longer that glass stays in, the worse it's going to be on you later."

"Why do you always have to be right?" Kim muttered as she looked over at him and smiled. "I'll go with you, just make sure that your bus driver knows not to slam on the breaks."

"You need to leave the baby..." the EMT trailed off as Kim looked over at Tommy and shook her head no.

"We'd like to get her checked out as well, she doesn't cry a lot, even if she does bump into something, so...just to be careful," Tommy said as the EMT nodded and led Kimberly away. Tommy stared up at the blaze and then looked down at his two children, wild eyed and scared. It was one thing to attack them when they had been out in the open, but to come to their home and then do something like this, Mesogogg had better pray that Tommy never got a hold of him. The being wouldn't have a chance to defend himself. He would kill him in cold blood.

"Daddy," Luke said as Tommy squatted down next to him and the little boy threw both of his arms around Tommy and Kylie quickly followed suit. He held them as the anger continued to build, beings like this knew better. They knew what would happen to them if they ever crossed this line.

"It's okay guys, everything is going to be okay. I'm not going to let anything hurt you," Tommy whispered as he looked up at the firefighters, who were having very little luck putting out the fire. The good thing was that the Command Center was basically fire proof. It would seal itself and turn the entrance into a normal slab of concrete in case of a fire. They did not need for the outside world to figure out what was in their basement.


	18. Chapter 18

Tommy sat with Kylie and Luke in the waiting room of St. Vincent's, waiting for Kim to be completely stitched up. A couple of pieces of glass had gone in deep enough to warrant it, luckily the rest of them had received a clean bill of health. He had already called the rangers to make sure that they were okay, before calling the veteran rangers to see if any of them had a place that they could stay for a couple of nights. Luckily for them, Billy had an apartment in Angel Grove that he only used when he had a late night and an early morning at work. They did not want to put anyone else in danger, things were getting ugly and it was enough that they had targeted their children.

"Hey," Kim whispered as she walked up to him and he looked up at her and she grimaced as he put his hand on her lower back. "How are they holding up?"

"Not good," Tommy said as he looked down at the three children that were propped against him, sleeping. "How are you?"

"Ready to get out of here and get into a nice, warm bed," Kim said as Tommy nodded before he looked around. Since both of their vehicles had gone missing the easiest way to get from one place to another would be to teleport. "I'll take Sophia, you wake the other two and bring them along. I spotted a storage closet up ahead."

"And to think that that would have once meant a quickie," Tommy muttered as she smiled over at him and then gently grasped his hand.

"It's going to be okay, we will survive this," Kim said as he just nodded and let out a sigh. "We're going to have to get someone to watch after the kids though."

"I know, how soon do you want to go after Mesogogg?" Tommy muttered as they packed all five of them into the storage closet as Kim teleported out to Billy's extra apartment and Tommy followed her moments later.

"As soon as we can find a set of powers for me. We can't pretend that having powers is unimportant," Kim said as Tommy nodded and they looked around the apartment. "Sophia can sleep with us. Kylie and Luke can each get a couch."

"I just love the sound of that," Tommy said as Kim glared over at him and he went about settling the two older children in for a nap. He was sure that they were going to sleep most of the day, since the fire had been set at about two a.m. It had taken the doctors six hours to stitch up and remove all the glass from Kim's wounds and he was not even sure that they had extinguished all of the fire, it may have been easier to just make it a controlled burn.

"It's been a long time since we've had to have a baby sleep with us," Kim said as he looked over at her and saw the tiredness in her eyes.

"I've got her, you go get comfortable," Tommy said as he took Sophia from Kimberly's arms and she barely nodded before slowly shuffling back to the tiny bedroom. "Are you going to be okay?"

"The wounds will heal Tommy, I'll be fine," Kim said with a forced smile as he looked down at the baby resting in his arms before looking at his other children.

"Little one, we're in for a long, hard road," Tommy whispered as he walked into the kitchen and looked in the refrigerator, which surprisingly held a couple of beers and some sandwich meat. He grabbed one of the beers and walked back into the living room, where he settled down in a chair and took a long swig. He usually refrained from drinking, but it had definitely been one of those days where he deserved a beer or two. The bad thing was, it was only 9 a.m. and that was even too early to be drinking by his standards.

* * *

"Where is the house?" Conner asked as the rangers drove up to the remnants of the Oliver home. "You don't think..."

"Come on, this is Dr.O we're talking about, I'm sure that they made it out of there just fine," Kira said as she looked at the charred remains and gulped. "At least I hope that they did."

"Don't you think someone would have gotten in touch with us if our mentors had been burned to death in their sleep?" Ethan asked as the two of them looked over at him. "A little to graphic?"

"Just a bit," Kira said as she reached over for her communicator and dialed into the frequency. "Dr.O? Dr.O?"

"What is it Kira?" Tommy asked as the rangers were flooded with relief. They had started to have serious doubts about their mentors making it out alive.

"Why is your house burnt to the ground?" Kira asked as Tommy groaned and then punched in the teleportation code on his communicator, which made the rangers appear in the minuscule apartment.

"The tryannadrones attacked and set our house on fire," Tommy stated as the rangers eyes widened. "We all made it out in one piece, but we'll be moving around a lot over the next few weeks in hopes of keeping them off our trail."

"How could that happen?" Kira asked as she heard a groan and Tommy quickly excused himself.

"Take it easy," Tommy whispered as Kim looked back at him and she stifled another groan. "Just lay down and try to stay still and it will calm down."

"I need to move around or the soreness will set in," Kim said as he gave her a look that clearly said that he was opposed to the idea. "You know I'm not lying, so let me get up and move around some."

"Of course, Miss Stubborn," Tommy said as he helped her up and she gave him a half smile. "You gonna be able to dress on your own?"

"Yes, I'm not that crippled, yet," Kim muttered as he forced himself to smile and she reached over and took his hand in hers. "Don't you start being the pessimist."

"It's hard to stay positive right now," Tommy said as she just nodded as she continued to change and he smiled as he saw some of the lingering stretch marks from carrying his three children. It was always at times like these that he was grateful for having a woman that loved him enough to endure not only these pains, but others as well.

"You have that look on your face," Kim said as she walked up to him and looked up at him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, the rangers came up on the charred remains of our house and they're here asking questions," Tommy said as she nodded and then looked over at their children, who were playing quietly in the corner.

"I'll stay with the kids, you take care of the rangers," Kim whispered as she pulled him down for a quick kiss and he let out a sigh. "We'll go after them as soon as we can."

"Okay, now that she's settled in, we can continue our discussion," Tommy said as he walked back into the living room and sat down in the spare chair.

"How did you make it out of there?" Ethan asked as Tommy forced back a grimace.

"We went through the second story windows, after battling God knows how many tryannadrones to get to the kids," Tommy said as the rangers nodded. "The Command Center is still intact though. We set up a program that if the house was to ever catch on fire, that the Command Center would seal the entrance that led into the house, that way no one would be able to get to it."

"Paranoid much?" Conner asked as Tommy raised an eyebrow over at the boy.

"Paranoia has benefited us on more than one occasion and it will probably help us with this one as well. We were going to wait to tell you this, but it seems that we don't have a choice but to now. As soon as we can find a set of powers for Kimberly, we're going after Mesogogg. He came after our family and that is something that we can't ignore," Tommy said as the rangers mouths fell open in shock.

"Dr. O, you can't be serious," Kira said as Tommy gave her a hard look that showed exactly how serious he was. "It's dangerous."

"Danger we can deal with, them coming after our children, we can't. There has always been a bit of an unwritten rule that these beings stay away from our families, these guys have crossed the line and now they're going to get the fight that they want," Tommy said as the rangers continued to stare at him. "If Mesogogg wants us to fight, we will. We will wipe the ground with him and kick his ass from here to Timbuktu, our children are more important than a couple of scars that we may get."

"What will we do?" Ethan asked as Tommy smiled and settled back in the chair.

"You will run interference, keep the tryannadrones so busy that they don't know which was is up or down, so that they won't see what's coming. Surprise is the only thing that we truly have working for us," Tommy said as the rangers nodded and he sighed. "In order to get in touch with us you might want to call me on my cell or use the communicators. We're going to be moving around too much to give you a phone number."

"But you're not going to run?" Conner asked as Tommy glared over at the boy.

"Running is not an option, they will find us, they will hunt us, unless we stand our ground and fight back. That is what we fully intend to do," Tommy said as the rangers nodded and then looked at each other. They knew there was a reason that Dr. O had stayed out of the fights, even with his powers. All they could wonder was what was going to happen now that they had been pissed off enough to go find Kimberly a set.


	19. Chapter 19

Kim sat in the park with Sophia in her lap as Kylie and Luke played with their friends. They were commuting to Reefside everyday while their house was being rebuilt, in a different location on the property. Although the both of them had wanted to rebuild over the old foundation, they had been told by the fire department that it was not suggested, so they decided that it was best to listen to the experts in that matter, although they had made sure that the remnants of the house could not be used by anyone, they bulldozed it to the ground. All of their friends talked about the tragedy of losing the house, but Kim could not really see it that way, her children were alive, that was all that really mattered.

She had been scanning for the remaining gems every night for a few hours at the Command Center, hoping that she would find something, but at the days went by she started losing hope. It seemed that there was no way that she was going to find a gem any time soon and that worried her. She did not want to put her children at risk because she could not properly defend them, because she was not able to go out there with Tommy and end this mess. She was so stressed and she just wanted for the powers to come to her, like they always had, but right now that seemed like an impossibility. She was waiting for something that would never come. She was waiting for something that could save her children and that was something that she could not stand.

"Hey," Tommy said as he sat down next to her and she looked over at him. "How are you holding up?"

"I keep waiting for a miracle, hoping that the powers will come to me before it's too late," Kim whispered as he wrapped his arm around her and she snuggled in next to him. "I'm scared."

"I know, that's why I brought you something," Tommy said as she looked up at him and he put his hand over hers and she felt the small gem in his hand. "I found a tracer yesterday and I went to get the gem, it looks like you're the new pink ranger."

"You're kidding," Kim said as she opened her hand and saw the gem glowing a dull shade of pink. "I can't believe that you finally found one."

"Don't get too excited just yet, we still have to figure out how to take down Mesogogg," Tommy said as she nodded and she settled against him again. "Are you sure that you're feeling alright?"

"I'm not at my best," Kim whispered as he gave her another look and she let out a long sigh. "Some of the cuts keep breaking open."

"And you're nervous," Tommy supplied as she merely nodded and placed her head on his chest. "It's going to be okay."

"I'm glad that you are so sure of it, because I'm not," Kim said as Tommy just nodded and looked over at Kylie and Luke.

"I'm going to go join the two of them, you gonna be okay on your own?" Tommy asked as she nodded before he stood up and ran over to the jungle gym to chase after the older children.

"There's the Tommy I love," Kim muttered as she watched him allow Kylie and Luke to tackle him to the ground where he mercilessly began to tickle them. She had caught him on more than one occasion staring at her when she was with the kids and it wasn't that she ignored him when he was with the kids, but she was usually with at least one of them at all times. She was going to appreciate the view while she could, because things were going to get worse before they got better- they both knew that. "I'm lucky Sophia."

"Da-da," Sophia babbled as Kim smiled down at her and then hugged her a little tighter.

"That's right, Da-da is why I'm lucky," Kim said as she looked up at the other three and could not stop her smile from spreading even further. This was what she had always wanted and even if there were some not so nice things to go with it, she had her family, the family that was absolutely perfect or at least as perfect as it was ever going to be.

* * *

"Sophia said da-da today," Kim said as she washed the dishes and Tommy looked over at her in surprise. "What?"

"I'm surprised you didn't run over to get me to hear it," Tommy said as Kim gave him a somber look and he smiled down at her.

"The only reason I did that with Kylie and Luke was because it took them forever to say it. Sophia is the daddy's little girl of the bunch," Kim said as Tommy smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

"How about we go work on little Oliver number four?" Tommy muttered as he kissed her neck and she forced down a moan.

"As much as that appeals to me, we have bigger concerns," Kim said as she spun around in his arms and looked up at him. "Or do you not remember the monster that is coming after our family?"

"I remember, I was just hoping to forget it, for a little while," Tommy whispered as Kim smiled up at him and kissed him on the cheek.

"I know, but we can't risk a little Oliver coming along right now," Kim said as she walked into the bathroom and dug out something that made him smile.

"But you're on the pill," Tommy said as she gave him a slight glare.

"I got pregnant with Sophia on the pill...so I suggest you do this my way or there will be none of this," Kim said as Tommy laughed and then took the condom from her hand. "I'll check on the kids, then I'll head on up."

"Okay," Tommy said as he walked down the short hall to their makeshift room and he smiled. It was not often that he sought her out for physical comfort, but he needed it, more than he needed Mesogogg defeated. He needed to know that at the end of the day he would still have his wife to come home to, because that scared him more than facing a thousand monsters alone. Losing his wife was his only weakness and Mesogogg knew that all too well.


	20. Chapter 20

"Kimberly! Honey?" Tommy yelled as he walked into their newly constructed house and looked around the first floor. He was still getting used the layout of the place, the good thing was- so was every evil being that could be after them as well.

"Shh," Kim said as she walked down the stairs and he gave her a confused look. "I just got Kylie to finally pass out for her nap."

"She still scared to sleep?" Tommy asked as Kim barely nodded her head in confirmation and he sighed. In the last few months they had woken up multiple times to her screaming out in her sleep or to her climbing into bed with them. The other two were too young to understand it, but Kylie knew something was wrong. "How are we going to fix this?"

"By getting the bastard that came after our family," Kim stated as she gave him a hug and he sighed. Mesogogg had been surprisingly quiet since the attack on their home and although they wished it was because the being had seen sense- they knew it was not that. There was a far greater chance that he was planning how to come after them next, hoping to lull them into a false sense of security. That had happened in the past, but it would never happen with their children. When Mesogogg re-emerged, they would be ready.

"She'll still be scared," Tommy said as Kim nodded and he looked down at her. "How can you be so calm about this?"

"I trust in our parenting skills, that we will be able to get her past being scared of what goes bump in the night and that she's not going to remember much more about this when she gets older than it being an odd man, an odd being that scared her as a child. That is all," Kim said as Tommy shook his head.

"How can you trust us that much?" Tommy asked as Kim smiled up at him and then rested her head against his chest.

"Because we don't have a choice but to succeed. Enough about that for now, did you find out anything today?" Kim asked as Tommy just shook his head that he hadn't and she sighed. "Do you ever think that Mesogogg is just messing with us?"

"I don't think- I know he is messing with us. There is no other reason to do this expect to screw with our minds. He knows that we are just waiting for him to attack and he isn't, for whatever reason," Tommy stated as he pulled her into him and held her tight. "It was never supposed to be like this."

"I know. We were supposed to get married and live happily ever after without worrying about our children's safety anymore than absolutely necessary. They would grow up to be normal kids that didn't know anything about this life, because we were able to hide it from them so well, right?" Kim said with a smile as she looked up at him and saw the worry in his eyes. "Tommy, we can't change what has happened. What we can do is help our kids move past it."

"You really are serious, aren't you?" Tommy asked as she nodded and he gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Someone has to be the serious one here, otherwise we'd lose it. You hold it together the other 364 days of the year, I'm just here when you can't hold it together anymore to help you pick up the pieces," Kim whispered as she watched him shake his head and smile. "See- I got you to smile."

"You always make me smile," Tommy whispered as he released her and sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "The rangers are going to be over in a bit for some training."

"Okay, I'll go grab the pre-wrap and tape while you get everything together," Kim said as Tommy nodded and watched her jog up the stairs, before shaking himself out of where his mind wished to go. After 15 years, he thought that some things would begin to change, but most of those things seemed to only become more allusive and attractive to him as time went on- luckily his wife generally agreed.

"Ow!" Conner yelled as he jumped away from Tommy and Kim jumped in front of the teen in order to keep Tommy from doing any permanent damage. "What the hell has gotten into you?"

"Tommy!" Kim yelled as she grabbed his hands and he looked down at her as his mind slowly relaxed from the sparring and he looked over at the teen to see that he had left a sizeable bruise on his shoulder and had probably nailed him in the ribs as well. "What's going on?"

"Sorry, I should have sparred with one of the guys first," Tommy said as she looked up at him in concern as the reality hit her. He hadn't had a chance to take his aggression's out on anyone and Conner was the first person to step in front of him for sparring and the boy was paying.

"Spar with me," Kim said as she released his hands and Tommy looked at her with wide eyes as he heard one of the teens snicker. "Come on, I know you won't hurt me, but you'll be able to get some of your aggression out on someone that can fight back."

"Conner should be able to fight back," Tommy said as Kim glared up at him before she punched him in the gut. "Hey..."

"Tommy, he's not a sixth degree black belt- you are. I'm a fifth degree- I can survive against you- I might even beat you if I feel like it," Kim said as she watched him sigh as he faced her and she watched as the teens took several steps back. "Take it out on me."

"You know, most people would call that view abuse," Tommy said as he dodged the kick that was aimed at his shoulder and he blocked her punch that was heading straight for his head.

"Yes, you are an abusive husband," Kim said, sarcastically, as she tossed him over her shoulder and he landed on the ground, where he quickly flipped back up to his feet. "You don't let me have all the chocolate that I want."

"That's because you'd shoot me if I did," Tommy said as he ducked and then began to advance with a series of kicks and punches, which Kim easily dodged.

"You are always telling me that I'm beautiful," Kim said as she landed a kick to his stomach and he stumbled back a couple steps.

"Self preservation," Tommy stated with a smile as he picked her up over his shoulder and she groaned.

"Put me down!" Kim yelled as she flailed around and he set her back on the ground before he quickly advanced. "Wow...who was holding back?"

"I wasn't sure if you had warmed up properly," Tommy said as he kicked her feet out from under her and pinned her to the ground. "Truce?"

"Truce," Kim stated as she looked over at the teens and watched as they began laughing.

"I never thought I'd see the day when Dr. O was actually backed into a corner," Kira said as Tommy pulled Kim to her feet and the both of them gave her a confused look. "Well...verbally in this case."

"Sorry, when we spar with each other we are a bit..." Tommy trailed off as he looked over at Kim and she shrugged. She was not sure how to describe what they were either. They didn't take anything too seriously when the spar with each other, mainly because of the fact that if they took it seriously it would hurt their egos more than they could stand.

"Yeah, we can tell," Ethan said as he stepped out of the pack of rangers. "You think you can actually spar with us, now?"

"Should be able to," Tommy said as Kim motioned for Kira to follow her and they broke off into groups, sparring until the teens were sore and the veteran rangers were exhausted.


	21. Chapter 21

"Kim, it's been awhile. How are you?" Trini asked as Kim hurried into the restaurant and sat down across from her good friend. The stress was evident in every motion Kim made, from the set of her shoulder to the crease of her brow, it was obvious things had not gotten better. If anything, it seemed that things might have gotten worse.

"Surviving, the kids are taking it pretty rough," Kim said as she absentmindedly rubbed her eyes and then grabbed a menu. She had barely had time to eat lately and was looking forward to a peaceful lunch. "Tommy should be up for sainthood for letting me out of the house right now."

"Hun, I think he knows how much you need it," Trini stated as Aisha walked up to the table and took up an empty chair. "Hey Ish."

"Hey, sorry I'm running late. Rocky got back to the house later than I expected," Aisha asked as Kim and Trini nodded. "You okay?"

"Not really, but I've been through worse," Kim said as she forced back her emotions. She couldn't afford to lose it just yet- she could lost it once they had defeated Mesogogg.

"When have you been through worse?" Trini asked as Kim gave her a drool glare and it was then that Aisha and Trini saw just how dangerous of a line Kim was walking. "Kim, you can talk to us about it."

"No, I can't. Not until it's over. Too much shit has happened lately and I can't deal with it until he's dead," Kim said as Trini and Aisha looked over at her. They had never seen her like this before, never seen her so close to the edge.

"You have to deal with it, both of you do," Trini stated as Kim quirked her eyes towards her and then looked back at Aisha.

"If you brought me here to try to talk me out of this, it won't happen," Kim stated as Trini and Aisha both smiled. The boys were not even going to try to talk Tommy out of their plan, but they were not going to give up on Kimberly just yet. She might still have a conscience about what they were going to do. Mesogogg had once been a person, there had to be some way that they could appeal to that. "Too much has happened to stop now."

"Don't say that," Aisha said as Kim stood up from the table and placed her napkin on her plate.

"We do this so that they don't come after your families- remember that," Kim said, calmly, before she stormed out of the restaurant and Trini just shook her head.

"Damn it," Trini muttered as she watched their friend go and she looked over at Aisha. "We shouldn't have done this."

"They've already…" Aisha trailed off as Trini nodded. They all knew what Kim and Tommy had done to protect the rangers in the past. They all knew of the people that their powers had killed, they knew of the people that they had sent to only God knew where to protect the rangers. It was a burden that none of them wanted, but the two of them had taken it.

"I know, but she'll never forgive us for this," Trini stated as she let out a sigh and closed her eyes. "I wish she could see what this is doing to her."

"She's right though, no one else would do it," Aisha said as she sat back and purposefully looked away from Trini. They took in a deep breaths as they both thought about the sacrifice that they had asked of Kim and Tommy- they had turned them into heartless killers as much as the reality that they faced had.

* * *

"Hey, what are you doing back so soon?" Tommy asked as Kim stormed into the house and she looked over at him with a glare. "Kylie, why don't you and Luke go to the playroom? I'll be in there in a bit."

"But Daddy…" Kylie started as Tommy barely shook his head and she quietly went into the other room, dragging her little brother along.

"Kim…" Tommy said as he slowly approached her and she shook her head as she tried to steady her breathing. "Hun…"

"Trini and Aisha tried to talk me out of what we have planned," Kim forced out as Tommy gave her a sharp look and he pulled her into his arms. That is not what he had thought the lunch was going to be for, he had thought that they might try to cheer her up. That was the only reason he had been fine with letting her out of his sight. "How can they get squeamish now? After all the other stuff we've done, they won't let us do this?"

"Kim, calm down," Tommy said as she looked up at him and shook her head. "You have to. They always looked the other way, because they knew we had no choice. We still have no choice, but this is just hitting a little bit too close to home for them."

"We sacrifice so much and they don't even know the half of it," Kim said as Tommy let go of her arms and she shook her head. "None of this is what I wanted for my life."

"I know, this is the last time, we have to believe that," Tommy said as Kim barely nodded before she punched the wall and Tommy grimaced. "Hun…stop, it's not going to help."

"Why us?" Kim yelled as she pulled her fingers through her hair. "Why are we the ones…"

"You know why, just as well as me. Take a deep breath," Tommy said as he watched her pace in front of him. The both of them lived with guilty consciences for what had happened in the past, but they were not going to be able to stop it. This was the only way to ensure that their families were going to be fine. "Kim…take a deep breath."

"We have to finish this…soon," Kim stated as she looked up at him and he saw the desperation in her eyes. She had had powers for nearly three weeks and there had been no attacks. They both were restless to finish this off and go back to their lives, at least for a little while. "Tommy…"

"I know," Tommy stated as he leaned down and kissed her. "I know."

"No, you don't…" Kim trailed off as he gave her a confused glance. "I feel like something has snapped inside of me."

"Nothing has snapped, we're both just antsy. We both need for this to be over," Tommy said as she barely nodded. She wished that she could believe what he was saying, but deep in her heart she knew that things had drastically changed. Somewhere in the last few days she had felt a change and she was not sure she'd be able to change back. "You have to believe me."

"I just want it to be over," Kim said as Tommy closed his eyes and looked away from her. "And you can't promise me that this will be the end, we both know that."

"What do you want me to say?" Tommy asked as he turned back to face her and looked into her eyes. "What do you want me to say?"

"The things that you can't say," Kim whispered as they both heard Sophia cry and she pulled away from him. "It ends this week Tommy, one way or another."

Tommy watched her walk towards the nursery and he finally let the tears leak out. He had broken years ago and turned cold towards what they had to do. Kimberly had never broken, until now and it tore him to pieces. She was the only reason that he had not turned into a maniac and now, even she was not going to try to keep him in check.


	22. Chapter 22

"Hey, Jase- we need a favor," Tommy said as he sat down on the porch and took a deep breath. He had found where Mesogogg was located late last night and they had to move now. If they waited much longer, there was a chance they'd lose him and he knew his wife could not live through that. "Can you keep the kids for a few days?"

"No, we won't be able to," Jason said as Tommy let out a harsh bark of a laugh. "It's going too far, the two of you doing this."

"Let them come after your babies and tell me what you would do," Tommy said as he heard Jason sigh. He knew that Jason was being forced to stick to his guns, but he was not going to make it easy for him. "It's okay, I'll call one of the others."

"No one is going to help Tommy," Jason stated as Tommy barely nodded. He had been afraid that this was coming and he knew how badly Kim would react to it. He just hoped that he could spare her the full pain of what their friends had decided to do.

"Okay," Tommy said as he hung up and Jason just shook his head. This was not the right thing to do and he knew it. The only way that there would be any peace was for Kim and Tommy to do this, but the women had put a stop to it. He just didn't want to see the consequences of what they were doing and there would be consequences. Consequences that some of them could not even begin to imagine.

"Any luck?" Kim asked as she cradled Sophia close to her chest and saw Tommy shake his head no. "You tried, your parents will take them for a few days."

"I know, I don't want to put them in danger too," Tommy said as Kim barely nodded. She didn't want to bring them into it either, but the rangers had left them no choice. "Mom said she'd take them for the week."

"We leave tonight?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head in agreement. "I love you."

"Love you too," Tommy whispered as he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "I'll help get Luke and Kylie packed up. Mom will be here in a little while."

"Okay," Kim said as she walked back to the nursery and he smiled. He was not looking forward to the next few days, but he could only hope that this would be the end of the line. That this would be the last time that they got blood on their hands from someone who was too greedy, interested or had crossed the line and become evil.

* * *

"For pete's sake- we made them," Andros growled as he looked around at the other rangers. He had not been clued in to what was happening with Kim and Tommy, on the fact that they were abandoning them. Now, they were going to have to deal with his wrath before they dealt with Kimberly and Tommy's. "You do this and we lose all the protection we have, you do understand that?"

"They'll calm down," Trini said as Andros shook his head.

"Like hell they will, they were nearly burned alive because of being rangers. Their children were nearly killed and we aren't willing to protect them now? You've lost them and God help you when this happens next time," Andros said as he stood up and walked to the front of the room. "I hope you never learn their pain."

"Andros…" Jason said as Andros turned to face them and he shook his head.

"How many times have they almost died for all of you?" Andros asked as Jason hung his head in shame. While some of the others might not know the number, he did all too well and he still hadn't been able to stop this from happening. "That's what I thought and you just walked away."

"It's not that simple," Jason said as Andros shook his head.

"Everything is black and white to them right now. I can promise that they will not let this go and what will we do the next time something attacks? You have a family- are you willing to put them in the firing line?" Andros asked as Jason gulped. "Anyone else going to try to defend themselves? Come on, rangers sure as hell aren't this cowardly."

"You didn't see her, she's never acted like this before," Trini said as Andros shook his head. He had probably seen Kimberly at her worst, far more often than the rest of him and he doubted that this was abnormal for the given situation. "She reminds me of Tommy, the Tommy that all of us pretend doesn't exist."

"You mean that man that will do anything to protect his family? That Tommy?" Andros asked as he watched many of them nod. "I'm going to leave and I am going to hope that you call them and offer to protect their children."

"Why don't you do that?" Aisha asked as Andros looked over at her.

"Because I have an even bigger target on my back than the two of them," Andros said as Jason nodded. He knew just how much Andros had compromised himself to help the rangers in the past and what it had cost him. "I can't promise the safety that you guys can. Most evils don't even know that you exist- they only know about Kim and Tommy. If you want to keep it that way, help them."

"He can't be serious," Katherine muttered as Andros stormed out of the house and she watched as the men shifted uncomfortably. "Jason."

"This is what you wanted and we didn't stand in your way," Jason said as he, Billy, and Rocky looked at their wives. "We've all seen what this has done to Kim and Tommy, but Andros has a point…if we step away…"

"We can't change our minds now. They still have some hope," Trini said as Billy shook his head. They did not have any hope of Kim and Tommy being normal again, losing them forever was the only option that was left.

"That hope is likely to get their children killed- what do you think will happen to them next?" Rocky asked as they looked over at him. "If they had come after Tessa, there isn't a force on this planet that would be able to stop me from ripping them limb from limb."

"Rocky…" Aisha started as he glared over at her.

"Don't Rocky me," Rocky stated as he shook his head. "This left a bad taste in my mouth from the beginning, abandoning them now…it's not right."

"We're not abandoning them!" Trini yelled as she jumped to her feet and she looked around at the group. "We aren't."

"To-may-to, to-ma-to…we're splitting a very fine line," Jason said as he placed his head in his hands. "Do you know how hard it was to tell them no? To tell them that they have no one else to rely on, that the only choice they have is family? They're staying with Tommy's parents- if anyone comes after them..."

"They won't," Aisha said as the guys shook their heads.

"We also bet that no one would ever touch their house or try to kill them or come after their children- we were wrong on every count. Can we afford to be wrong again?" Billy asked as the other rangers stood there in silence. They couldn't afford the risk and none of them had thought about it until now. "I'll call Carlos and Cassie, I'm sure they'll be willing to take the kids for a few days. Kim and Tommy won't let any of us do that now."

"Billy…" Trini started as he just shook his head.

"I'm not going to sit back and watch their children die," Billy stated as he picked up the phone and walked away from the others. Whatever Kim and Tommy might be about to do, they deserved to be able to come back to their kids. They deserved to be able to start over and go back to their life, just like they always had.


	23. Chapter 23

"You ready babe?" Tommy asked as he walked up behind Kimberly and saw her staring off into space. "Kim, it's time to go."

"I know," Kim said as she grasped her morpher and just shook her head. "I can't imagine doing this much longer."

"I know, just one more time and it'll be over," Tommy stated as he kissed her cheek and then grasped her communicator. "Let's go."

"Let's go," Kim muttered before he pulled her in for one long kiss as they went into the battle for their lives.

They landed in Mesogogg's lair with nothing more than a dull thud and they quietly looked around. Going in blind was not something that either of them favored, but it had been their only choice. As they looked around, they both realized that they were in more trouble than they had bet on.

"Room by room," Tommy said as Kim barely nodded before she turned to the left and he went to the right. "Love you."

"Love you too," Kim whispered as she gave him a brief smile before she burst into the first room and all hell broke loose. They knew going in that it was going to be a room by room fight, they just didn't figure it would be this massive of a task.

Every room held a new surprise, some rooms had masses of tryannadrones and others were empty. They were thankful for the empty rooms as they worked their way to the heart of the lair and despised the rooms filled with tryannadrones more and more. After several hours of fighting they finally made it to the central corridor and Mesogogg stepped out with a sneer firmly in place.

"Welcome back- do you like what I've done with the place?" Mesogogg asked as Kim and Tommy exchanged a glance. "We were once friends, you can't forget that."

"You came after my children, I can't call you friend anymore," Kim stated as Mesogogg chuckled.

"Look at you, holding yourself to such high standards- how many monsters have you killed?" Mesogogg asked as Kim looked over at Tommy and he sighed. It always came down to that, it always came down to the dirty business that no one ever talked about.

"Thousands, but you already knew that," Tommy said as he glowed a shade of black that signaled his body was beginning to morph. "We can't let this continue."

"So it's me or you," Mesogogg stated as Kim morphed and she barely nodded. "Do your worst."

"We intend to," Kim stated as Tommy grabbed Mesogogg and slung him to the ground. This was going to be personal, it was the only way after everything that had happened. They both continued to pummel him and as time went on he was torn to pieces. When his form shifted to that of a human, Kim and Tommy pulled back and looked at each other.

"You have a problem killing me now?" Mesogogg asked as he looked up at the both of them and prayed for their legendary mercy. They had never killed unless it was absolutely necessary and he was hoping that he had not become a necessity.

"No," Tommy stated as he looked over at Kim and she placed her power blaster in his hand. "We just want to make this as humane as possible."

"If you wanted to do that, you would have killed me immediately," Mesogogg stated as Kim shook her head.

"That is the message to anyone else who might wish to come after us," Kim stated as Tommy cranked the blasters up before he looked over at her. "Take him out."

The screams of Mesogogg resonated throughout the building as he slowly turned to ash. The two rangers slowly walked out, taking care of any stragglers and hoping that their message had gotten across clearly. They were done with playing around and anything that came after them now, was asking to be killed. They had no mercy left in them.

"It's done," Tommy said as Conner, Kira and Ethan gathered in the Command Center and looked at the two of them. "Go home and enjoy the rest of your lives."

"Dr. O?" Kira asked as Tommy shook his head.

"We'll talk about it later. Kim and I need some time right now," Tommy said as the rangers quickly filed out and he let out a sigh. He could still smell the stench of burnt flesh and what he desperately needed was time with his wife, nothing else.

"They gone?" Kim asked as Tommy barely nodded as his eyes trailed up and down her body. She lazily smiled at him as he stalked towards her, untucking his shirt as he went. "Hun…"

"Don't 'hun' me," Tommy huskily stated as he picked her up and she quickly wrapped her legs around him. "I need you to help me forget."

"Absolutely," Kim whispered as her lips brushed against his neck and he shivered. "Bed, husband."

"Of course," Tommy said as he carried her off and he felt some of the tension begin to ease from his body. He needed to forget what had happened, just as much as she did, especially if they had any hope of trying to go back to a normal life on Monday morning.

* * *

"Did they call you?" Billy asked as the rangers walked into his building. All of the other rangers wanted to know what had happened, but after what they had done- Kim and Tommy would not answer them.

"Yeah, it's over," Kira supplied as the other rangers sighed. At least Kim and Tommy had made it out of their suicide mission in one piece. "They didn't tell us much about it."

"I'm not surprised," Jason said as the rangers just shook their heads. "We've got to do something."

"To change how they react to people coming after them? Do I really need to remind you of the last conversation we had?" Andros asked as Jason just shook his head. "Good- the best thing you can do is beg for mercy."

"Thanks," Aisha said as he shook his head and sighed.

"I'd love for their lives to be different, but they aren't and if you don't want to become the people that monsters go after, you'll do what they ask," Andros said as the young rangers exchanged a glance. "You three should probably head home. They'll explain some of what happened when they're ready."

"Andros, what can we do?" Trini asked as Andros sighed. He wanted to help change the attitude that Kim and Tommy had taken, but he also knew that this attitude was the only thing that kept them sane.

"Understand and not judge," Andros said as they all looked at each other. "Their lives are not pretty, but they make the most of it."

"What if they…" Katherine trailed off as they all looked at her. "What if they cross the line?"

"We will deal with that day if it happens," Andros said as they nodded. "Until then, Kim and Tommy are just ordinary people, who have been asked to do extraordinary things."

"You can't possibly believe that anymore," Trini scoffed as Andros just shook his head.

"You're right, but if I don't believe that, I don't have anything good to believe anymore," Andros said as he shook his head. All of the rangers were going to live to regret abandoning Kim and Tommy, he just hoped that none of them paid for it in the ways that Kim and Tommy already had.


	24. Chapter 24

Tommy awoke to silence the next morning and slowly stretched his aching muscles. He had stayed awake into the wee hours of the morning, trying to forget what he had done, trying desperately to remember what it had been like before. While he was sure that some of the rangers believed that this no longer affected him, they were wrong. He could try to deny it, but every mission took a little bit more out of him. Every time they had to kill some being made him ache for a normal life just a little bit more. However, he no longer believed that it would be possible for him to have a normal life.

"Mornin," Kim muttered as she crawled back into bed and snuggled into his side. As he lazily kissed her cheek, she glanced up at him with concern evident in her eyes. She knew just how rough the last day had been on him. She, alone, knew everything he was feeling and could see just how much it was hurting him still.

"I'm okay," Tommy whispered as she gave him a critical stare. It would be much easier to believe that if she didn't know what was going through his mind. They were the same thoughts that plagued her after all of these years.

"Okay," Kim whispered before she gave him a quick kiss and then smiled over at him. "We should probably let the others know we're back."

"I'm pretty sure Kira, Conner and Ethan told them," Tommy said as Kim barely nodded. "We're going to have to talk to them about it."

"That's fine," Kim said as he looked over at her. He was fairly sure that they were not talking about the same 'them'.

"I mean our friends, not the rangers," Tommy stated as Kim glared over at him and he prepared himself for the onslaught that he was sure was coming his way. While he did not agree with what their friends had done, he could understand it.

"They aren't our friends Tommy, not anymore," Kim stated as he grimaced. He had hoped that she would have cooled down some after the battle. Apparently, she was going to hold this grudge for much longer than he thought necessary. He saw what the two of them had become and he did not agree with what they had to do, but he understood it. He understood how this was a necessary evil so that they would be able to protect their family. "I don't want to hear it. How many times have we gone through this shit to save them? All we ask is that they look after our babies and they aren't even willing to do that anymore."

"I know, but we should at least give them the right to fully explain themselves," Tommy said as she glared over at him before she barely nodded. "Thank you."

"I don't like it anymore than you, but I have sacrificed too much for them. I had three miscarriages before we got pregnant with Kylie- all of them because of monsters. No one else had to endure that because of what we have done," Kim stated as the tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes and Tommy pulled her in more tightly to his chest. That was truly the one thing that he hated about being a ranger, he hated knowing how much pain his wife had been caused because of this life.

"I know and we may just need to remind them of that," Tommy said as Kim glanced over at him. "We shouldn't have to, but sometimes people forget."

"I don't know how they could," Kim whispered as he ran his fingers through her hair and she relaxed against him.

"Get some more sleep hun, we'll call them the next time we wake up," Tommy said as she smiled over at him before her eyes fluttered closed. He hoped that when she woke up that she'd be in a better mood- if not, they were going to walk away from the other rangers and he doubted they'd ever look back.

* * *

"Kim, Tommy, I'm glad you're back," Trini said as she opened the door and leaned over to give Kim a hug, which the petite woman dodged. The glare that Kim pinned her with was enough to make her take a step back and she forced herself not to shudder. They all knew that this ultimatum could end badly, she had just not expected it to be quite so bad.

"Hey Trini," Tommy muttered as he gave her a quick hug.

"I'm going to let all of you explain yourselves, then we're going to pick up our children," Kim stated as she sat down in one of the chairs and Tommy settled behind her. He wanted to be in a position to pull her away from the others if need be.

"Kimberly, you need to see this from our point of view," Katherine started as Kim looked over at her. "The two of you have changed a great deal over the last few years and you're becoming the things that you hunt."

"Really? That is what you are going to say to us? We're becoming monsters? Look in the mirror Katherine, we all have done some questionable things in our lives. None of you were willing to take this position, we did and I don't see any of you volunteering to take it away," Kim stated as she looked over to Aisha, dismissing anything else that Katherine might have to say. "What do you have to say?"

"What you are doing is more than just defeating monsters. The both of you are willing to do anything and are proven to be unstable," Aisha said as Kim just shook her head and looked back at Tommy. Neither of them were unstable, everything considered, they were actually had a good amount of control. "You killed a man today who had become evil, you didn't even try to save him."

"You think we could have saved someone that has proven time and time again that they are going to come after our family?" Kim asked as Aisha barely nodded. "Dear God…"

"You could have given them a chance," Aisha repeated as Kim stood up and walked back to stand by Tommy.

"We'll let them come after your children next time," Kim stated as she looked up at Tommy and saw the grim determination set in his face. While he might agree with some of the things they were saying, he could not disagree with his wife at the moment. It had been far too much for them. This life had taken far too much from them.

"Kim…" Trini started as Kim glared over at her.

"Don't 'Kim' me. The only reason that our children were even involved in this is because every evil being knows who we are and then you weren't willing to watch them. Of course, you made Jason tell us that all of you were out, when really- it was you, Katherine and Aisha that had pulled the plug. Don't tell me that I am radical- I doubt that any of you would handle this any better," Kim said as she slowly rose to her feet and Tommy gave her a quick glance. He had hoped that she would be willing to listen for a bit longer. However, he saw that the lines had clearly been drawn in the sand and everyone was going to have to choose a side. "Anything else?"

As the others exchanged glances, she was able to see the worry that had settled on all of them. This was obviously not the result that they had hoped for, they had hoped that Kim and Tommy would swear off being rangers. They had hoped that Kim and Tommy would continue in their role as mentors. They had not foreseen that Kim and Tommy were going to walk away and leave them to fend for themselves.

"No? Well, we shouldn't keep our babies waiting any longer," Kim stated as Tommy grabbed her hand and they turned to leave. While he had hoped this would not be the outcome, he had known deep down that this was the only way that things would work out. He just hoped that the others would be able to mend this bridge, because they were going to need them. None of them had ever dealt with monsters in the ways that they had and it was surely going to show when the next monster showed up.

"You okay?" Tommy asked, once they had settled in the car and he looked over at her. They both were angry and he only wished that things could have been different.

"I'm fine," Kim said as she let out a sigh. "I never thought this would happen."

"Neither did I," Tommy said as she smiled over at him and he felt his heart flutter. "We'll be fine."

"We will," Kim repeated as he shifted into reverse and quickly had the car heading towards their children. They were done with this life, whether their friends liked it or not.


	25. Chapter 25

Epilogue

Three Years Later

"Sophia! Don't hit Greyson with a pillow," Kim said as she hurried over and pulled the pillow from her toddlers hands as she had been 'playing' with the youngest of their brood. "Kylie, can you help her clean up for supper?"

"But Mom…" Kylie started as Kim glared over at her and she quickly moved to help her little sister.

"Hey Grey…Daddy's going to be home soon," Kim whispered as she rocked the three month old in her arms and enjoyed his baby smell. While they had not planned on having four children, she was happy for the little bundle that she was holding in her arms.

"I'm already home," Tommy whispered as he wrapped his arms around her and leaned down to kiss Grey's forehead, before he gave her a quick kiss. "Did you see the news today?"

"I did. They've already called," Kim said as he gulped. They had known the other rangers would call when this day came, but they were still unsure what they were going to do about it. They had walked away from all things ranger related after their mission to get Mesogogg and they hadn't looked back. They absolutely refused to look back.

"How are you?" Tommy asked as their three older children tumbled down the stairs and she barely shook her head. "Come on kids, let's have supper."

"Kim, Tommy, we need your help," Jason stated as he spoke to the answering machine for the fifth time that day. He was unsure how many times the others had called, but he had a feeling they were getting the same treatment. Kim and Tommy were done with being rangers and they had nothing to do with the rangers that had abandoned them. He hated what had happened, but there was no changing it. "They still aren't answering."

"You expect them to?" Andros asked as Jason looked over at him and barely shook his head no. He had accepted that they were not going to save them this time. He had accepted that someone else was going to have to do the job that Kim and Tommy had always done. "Good, I'll go talk to them, but I make no guarantees."

"Thanks," Jason said as Andros teleported out and he let out a long sigh. It looked like his family was the next one on the target list and he was not sure how he'd deal with that. He had no clue how to be a proper mentor and if he couldn't get any advice, he was in deep trouble.

"Hello," Andros said as he appeared in the nursery and Kimberly jumped around, stumbling back into the dresser as she went.

"Andros…" Kim growled as Tommy hurried into the room and he then let out a sigh. "What are you doing here?"

"They asked me to come, since you aren't answering the phone," Andros said as Kim just shook her head. "I'm not going to try to convince you that you should come help, but they need advice on how to handle this."

"They've lost the right to advice of any kind," Kim stated as Greyson let out a cry and she turned to pick the baby up. "Andros…I can't do this again."

"I'm not asking you to. I don't think any of them are going to ask that either, but can you help?" Andros asked as Kim shuddered and Tommy shook his head. "Seriously?"

"They watched us do that job for nearly a decade. They know what it takes to be mentors," Tommy stated as their son let out a particularly loud wail and Kim walked out of the nursery. "We knew this day would come, we can't do it. We're just starting to really live a normal life and the kids…they're scared of normal kid things, not crazy monsters. I don't want that to change."

"I get it," Andros said as Sophia toddled into the room and Tommy scooped her up and took her back to bed.

"I'm not really sure any of you do," Tommy stated as he tucked Sophia in and kissed her on the forehead. "I can't count the number of times that we've nearly died and I love my wife. When we walked away from this, I promised her there was no going back. We can't get involved."

"Alright," Andros said as he gulped and then teleported out. He was not going to try to play mediator any longer, he knew that trying to change Kim and Tommy's minds would push them further away. If there was any hope that they might help them some day in the future, they had

"Babe…" Kim started as Tommy reached over and took Greyson out of her arms and she smiled up at him. "He needs his Daddy."

"Grey- why are we so upset tonight?" Tommy asked as he gently bounced the baby boy and he slowly calmed down.

"You are such a saint," Kim whispered as she looped her arms around his waist and settled against his back.

"We did the right thing and we have to stick to it. For them," Tommy said as he placed Grey back in his crib and then turned around in her arms.

"I know, I just hope the others can figure it out," Kim said as Tommy reached around for her hand and then slowly lead her towards their bedroom.

"We aren't rangers anymore and they're learning just what it means to be rangers again," Tommy said as she smiled up at him and then pulled the door closed behind her. She hoped that the kids would stay put for the night, they both were going to need it.


End file.
